| Summary: | Angeliki G Filippatou, Peter A Calabresi, Shiv Saidha, Olwen C Murphy Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USACorrespondence: Olwen C Murphy, Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA, Tel +1 410-614-1522, Fax +1410-502-6736, Email omurphy2@jhmi.eduAbstract: A putative mechanism of neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) is trans-synaptic degeneration (TSD), whereby injury to a neuron leads to degeneration of synaptically connected neurons. The visual system is commonly involved in MS and provides an ideal model to study TSD given its well-defined structure. TSD may occur in an anterograde direction (optic neuropathy causing degeneration in the posterior visual pathway including the optic radiations and occipital gray matter) and/or retrograde direction (posterior visual pathway lesions causing retinal degeneration). In the current review, we discuss evidence supporting the presence of anterograde and retrograde TSD in the visual system in MS.Keywords: multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis, transsynaptic degeneration, neurodegeneration, optical coherence tomography
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