A systematic review of optical coherence tomography findings in adults with mild traumatic brain injury

Hannah S. Lyons, Matilde Sassani, Yousef Hyder, James L. Mitchell, Mark Thaller, Susan Mollan, Alexandra J. Sinclair, Richard J. Blanch*, Alexandra Sinclair, Aliza Finch, Adam Hampshire, Alice Sitch, Ali Mazaheri, Andrew Bagshaw, Andy Palmer, Asha Strom, Alice Waitt, Andreas Yiangou, Ahmed Abdel-Hay, Alexander BennettAmy Clark, Angus Hunter, Barry Seemungal, Caroline Witton, Caroline Dooley, Deborah Bird, Davinia Fernandez-Espejo, Dave Smith, Dan Ford, Daniel Sherwood, Donna Holding, Duncan Wilson, Edward Palmer, John Golding, Hamid Dehghani, Hyojin Park, Hannah Lyons, Hazel Smith, Helen Brunger, Henrietta Ellis, Iman Idrees, Ian Varley, Jessica Hubbard, Jun Cao, Jon Deeks, James Mitchell, Jan Novak, Jamie Pringle, John Terry, Jack Rogers, Tim Read, Jessikah Fildes, Karen Mullinger, Lisa Hill, Marco Aurisicchio, Mark Thaller, Martin Wilson, Mark Pearce, Matilde Sassani, Matthew Brookes, Mohammad Mahmud, Ray Rayhan, Ned Jenkinson, Niki Karavitaki, Nick Capewell, Olivia Grech, Ole Jensen, Pete Hellyer, Philip Woodgate, Sebastian Coleman, Raymond Reynolds, Richard J. Blanch*, Katie Morris, Ryan Ottridge, Rachel Upthegrove, Ronan Dardis, Ruwan Wanni Arachchige, Sarah Berhane, Sam Lucas, Sophie Prosser, Shayan Sharifi, Shreshth Dharm-Datta, Susan Mollan, Toby Ellmers, Tara Ghafari, Tony Goldstone, Waheeda Hawa, Yidian Gao

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is common with many patients suffering disabling long-term sequelae, with visual symptoms frequently reported. There are no objective biomarkers of mTBI that are routinely used in clinical practice. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been used in mTBI research, as it enables visualisation of the neuroretina, allowing measurement of the retinal nerve fibre layer and ganglion cell layer. This systematic review aims to appraise the available literature and assess whether there are significant changes within the retinal nerve fibre layer and ganglion cell layer in subjects after mTBI. A systematic review was carried out in accordance with PRISMA guidelines and registered with PROSPERO (Number: CRD42022360498). Four databases were searched for relevant literature published from inception until 1 September 2022. Abstracts and full texts were screened by three independent reviewers. Initial screening of databases yielded 341 publications, of these, three fulfilled all the criteria for inclusion. All three studies showed thinning of the retinal nerve fibre layer, whereas there were no significant changes in the ganglion cell layer. This systematic review demonstrated that thinning of the retinal nerve fibre layer (but not of the ganglion cell layer) is associated with mTBI. It provides preliminary evidence for the use of the retinal nerve fibre layer as a potential biomarker of damage to the visual system in mTBI. Further prospective longitudinal studies ensuring uniform diagnosis and accurate phenotyping of mTBI are needed to understand the effects on the visual system and potential of OCT as a prognostic biomarker.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1077-1083
Number of pages7
JournalEye (Basingstoke)
Volume38
Issue number6
Early online date18 Jan 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2024

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Copyright © Crown 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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