NCT03401879Recruiting
Retinal Neuro-vascular Coupling in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 23 May 2025 · Not updated for over 12 months - ask the site whether it is still open
Brief summary (registry, in English)
Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects approximately 2.3 million patients worldwide, with a global median prevalence of 33 per 100,000. MS is diagnosed at an average of 30 years and affects twice as many women as men. MS is traditionally diagnosed by the presentation of lesions of the central nervous system, disseminated in time and in space, proven by clinical examination and magnetic resonance imaging. Several anatomical parameters in the eye, both vascular and neural, have been found to be altered in MS patients. Because of its unique optical properties, the eye offers the possibility of the non-invasive assessment of both structural and functional alterations in neuronal tissue. As the neuro-retina is part of the brain, it does not come as a surprise that neuro-degenerative changes in the brain are accompanied by structural and possibly also functional changes in the neuro-retina and the ocular vasculature. The current study seeks to test the hypothesis that beside the known anatomical changes, also functional changes can be detected in the retina of patients with MS. For this purpose, flicker light induced hyperemia will be measured in the retina as a functional test to assess the coupling between neural activity and blood flow. Further, structural parameters such as retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and function parameters such as ocular blood flow and retinal oxygenation will be assessed and compared to age and sex matched controls.
- Status (registry)
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 50 (estimated)
- First submitted
- 10 Jan 2018
- Start date
- 1 Feb 2018
- Primary completion date
- 31 Mar 2026
- Lead sponsor
- Medical University of Vienna
- Diseases
- Multiple sclerosis
- NCT number
- NCT03401879
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Planned participants: 50
- From 1 Feb 2018 to the primary completion date, 31 Mar 2026
- 1 site in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Who the study is looking for
- Men and women aged over 18 years
- Non-smokers
- Normal findings in the medical history unless the investigator considers an abnormality to be clinically irrelevant
- Normal ophthalmic findings, ametropy \< 6 Dpt.
- Men and women aged over 18 years
- Diagnosis of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) according to clinical evaluation and McDonald criteria (revision 2010)
- History of AON in one eye at least one year ago
- Non-smokers
- Normal ophthalmic findings, ametropy \< 6 Dpt.
- Adequate visual acuity to allow participation in the ocular blood flow measurements
- A potential participant has to be on stable doses of all medications he/she is taking because of consisting illnesses according to medical history (except MS therapy itself which will be recorded separately) for at least 30 days prior inclusion, if considered relevant by the investigator.
- Any of the following will exclude a healthy subject from the study:
- Diagnosis of "possible MS" according to the McDonald criteria (revision 2010)
- Presence or history of a severe medical condition as judged by the clinical investigator
- Untreated Arterial hypertension
- History or family history of epilepsy
- Presence of any abnormalities preventing reliable measurements in the study eye as judged by the investigator
- Family history of MS, optic neuritis, neuromyelitis optica (NMO, Devic disease) or NMO spectrum disorders
- History of inflammatory or infectious disease of central nervous system
- Best corrected visual acuity \< 0.5 Snellen
- Ametropy ≥ 6Dpt
- Pregnancy or planned pregnancy
- Alcoholism or substance abuse
- Any of the following will exclude a patient from the study:
- Presence or history of a severe medical condition other than MS as judged by the clinical investigator
- History of neuromyelitis optica (NMO, Devic disease) or NMO spectrum disorders
- History of inflammatory or infectious disease of central nervous system other than MS
- Untreated Arterial hypertension
- History or family history of epilepsy
- Presence of any abnormalities preventing reliable measurements in the study eye as judged by the investigator
- Best corrected visual acuity \< 0.5 Snellen
- Ametropy ≥ 6 Dpt
- Pregnancy, planned pregnancy
- Significant neurological disease other than MS, if considered relevant by the investigator
- Alcoholism or substance abuse
Age in the registry: 18 years to - · Sex: All · Accepts healthy volunteers
Sites (1)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Vienna | Austria | Recruiting |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.