Conference Coverage

Epilepsy Drug May Preserve Eyesight for Patients With MS


 

References

WASHINGTON, DC—A common anticonvulsant may protect the eyesight of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 67th Annual Meeting. “About half of people with MS experience optic neuritis at some point in their life,” said study author Raj Kapoor, MD, with the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. “The condition can cause sudden total or partial blindness, foggy or blackened vision, and pain. Even though eyesight can recover eventually, each attack still damages the nerve and the eye.”

For the study, Dr. Kapoor and colleagues randomly selected 86 patients with acute optic neuritis within two weeks of symptom onset to receive either phenytoin or a placebo for three months. The researchers then used medical imaging to measure the thickness of the retina at the beginning of the study and then six months later. Each patient’s eyesight (including sharpness and color perception) was also tested.

On average, the group who took phenytoin had 30% less damage to the nerve fiber layer, compared with those who received the placebo. The volume of the macula was 34% higher in those who took phenytoin than those who received the placebo. As expected after a single attack, patients’ vision successfully recovered, and there weren’t any significant differences in visual outcomes over the long term between the two groups.

“Eyesight is key to many important aspects of life, such as working, driving, and participating in social activities,” said Dr. Kapoor. “If this finding is confirmed by larger studies, it could lead to a treatment that may prevent nerve damage and blindness in MS and could help other attacks of MS, serving a major unmet need.”

The study was supported by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, an unrestricted grant from Novartis, the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network, and University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Center.

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