2. Definition, Incidence , epidemiology
Optic neuritis is an inflammatory, demyelinating
condition that causes acute, usually monocular, visual
loss.
presenting feature in 15 to 20 % of patients of MS
Occurs in 50 percent at some time during the illness
occur in women (two thirds), typically between age 20
and 40 years age
highest in higher latitudes, lowest close to equator
In the United States, 6.4/ 1,00,000
whites > blacks,
More in Southeast Asia relative to incidence of MS
3. Pathology and pathophysiology
pathologic basis is inflammatory demyelination of the optic nerve.
pathology is similar to MS plaques in the brain
perivascular cuffing,
edema in the myelinated nerve sheaths,
myelin breakdown
Myelin loss exceeds axonal loss.
demyelination immune mediated, but specific mechanism and target antigen-
unknown.
Systemic T cell activation occurs at symptom onset and precedes changes in
CSF
T cell activation leads to the release of cytokines
B cell activation against myelin basic protein is not seen in peripheral blood but
in CSF
genetic susceptibility
Overrepresentation of certain HLA types in ON
4. Unilateral vs bilateral
in 10 %, both eyes, either simultaneously or in rapid
succession
Bilateral ON is more common in children - 12 to 15
years
also in Asian and black South Africans
Because bilateral symptoms are relatively uncommon,
search for alternative diagnosis
5. Clinical features
the Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial (ONTT),
enrolled 457 patients, 18 to 46 years, with acute unilateral ON
2 most common symtoms
Vision loss
develops over hours to days, peaking within 1-2 weeks.
Continued deterioration suggests alternative diagnosis
> 90 % inONTT had significant decrease in central visual acuity.
Eye pain in 92%-
often worsened with eye movement
onset of pain generally coincided with visual acuity loss and
improved along with it.
6. Visual field loss
RAPD always occurs in ON if other eye is uninvolved
demonstrated by swinging light test, finding that direct
response to light is more sluggish in the affected eye.
visual field defect
Typically, central scotoma
in the ONTT,
diffuse vision loss and
altitudinal, arcuate, hemianopic, and cecocentral defects.
defect that extends to periphery - compressive lesion,
while altitudinal defect, particularly inferior altitudinal- AION
Visual field defects usually resolve;
in the ONTT,
56 percent - normalized at one year
73 percent - normalized at 10 years
7. Fundoscopy
Papillitis with hyperemia and swelling of the disk,
blurring of disk margins, and distended veins
is seen 1/3 of ON
2/3 of this pool have retrobulbar neuritis with a normal fundus
more common in children <14
black South Africans and Southeast Asians
Peripapillary hemorrhages
rare in optic neuritis
but commonly accompanies papillitis due to AION
8.
9. Other clinical features
Photopsias (flickering or flashes of light)
precipitated with eye movement
30 % of patients in the ONTT
Loss of color of vision out of proportion to the loss of visual acuity
is specific to optic nerve pathology.
Abnormal color vision
by Ishihara plates 88 % in the ONTT
by the more sensitive Farnsworth Munsell 100 hue test - 94 %
Funduscopic or slit lamp examination
Perivenous sheathing or periphlebitis retinae –
12 % in ON
implies a high risk for MS
Uveitis,
cells in the anterior chamber
pars planitis
•Uncommon in ON
•more typical of infections and
otherautoimmune diseases
10. CHRONIC CLINICAL FEATURES
Persistent visual loss.
Most recover functional vision within one year.
However, on testing, deficits in color vision, contrast sensitivity, stereo
acuity, and light brightness are detectable in most patients till 2 years
RAPD in 25% till 2 years
Color desaturation
refers to a qualitative intereye difference in color perception that can
be tested by comparing vision of a red object with each eye.
Eg. monocular "red desaturation"
11. Uhthoff's phenomenon- temporary exacerbations
Optic atrophy
follows ON, despite return of visual acuity
Normal, 20/20 visual acuity requires less than ½ of normal foveal
axons
temporal pallor
The pattern-shift VER remains delayed, even with visual
recovery.
14. Evaluation
History - Neurological examination - Fundus examination
MRI Orbit with Gandolinium contrast
longitudinal extent of nerve involvement correlates with visual impairment at
presentation
and with visual prognosis
Gadolinium enhancement persists for a mean of 30 days since onset
brain MRI –
white matter abnormalities characteristic of MS
Typical lesions are ovoid, periventricular, >3 mm.
prevalence of white matter abnormalities varies 23 to 75 percent
Individuals with white matter abnormalities are at a higher risk of developing MS
Yield of MRI spinal cord imaging is low in unselected patients.
15.
16. Brain MRI of a 30-
year-old woman
presenting with optic
neuritis.
Fat saturated T2-weighted
coronal (A) image shows
hyperintensity in the right
optic nerve (arrow).
Post-gadolinium fat-
saturated T1-weighted
coronal (B) image shows
abnormal enhancement in
the right optic nerve
(arrow).
Four years later, sagittal
FLAIR (C) shows two
plaques radiating outward
from the corpus callosum
17. CSF Analysis
not an essential diagnostic test
Considered in atypical cases
bilateral presentation,
<15 years in age
symptoms suggesting infection
60 to 80 percent of ON- nonspecific abnormalities in CSF
lymphocytes (10 to 100)
elevated protein
Other CSF
OCB implies a higher risk of developing MS.
However, since OCB are also associated with white matter lesions
on brain MRI, they are not an independent prognostic importance
18. Other tests-
to be done when considering an alternative diagnosis
ESR, ANA, Sr. ACE level, serologic and CSF tests for Lyme disease and syphilis
Fluorescein angiography
not routinely performed in evaluation of ON and is often normal.
Up to 25 percent demonstrate either dye leakage or perivenous sheathing
may identify patients at somewhat higher risk for developing MS.
Visual evoked response
delay in the P100 of VER is the electrophysiologic manifestation - as a result of
axonal demyelination
helpful if there is a suspicion that the visual loss is functional.
Multifocal VER -more sensitive and specific but generally not available
19. Optical coherence tomography measures the
thickness in the retinal nerve fiber layer
detects thinning in 85 percent% of ON
lower values correlate with impaired visual outcome,
prognostic Value- limited as abnormal values do not show
up until early swelling disappears.
greater severity of optic nerve injury – suggests NMO > ON
associated with MS
20. Aquaporin 4 specific serum autoantibody
patients with either severe or recurrent optic neuritis, may be
seropositive for Aquaporin 4 specific serum autoantibody
seropositivity for the aquaporin4specific serum autoantibody was
predictive of subsequent NMO in recurrent ON
Serum NMO antibody test is suggested with recurrent ON, particularly if
MRI brain is negative for any abnormal T2/FLAIR lesions outside of the
affected optic nerve(s).
The role for testing to myelinoligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)
antibodies is investigational
21. Prognosis
Recovery of vision — Without treatment, vision begins to
improve after a few weeks
Can continue over many months;
90 percent have 20/40 or better vision at one year
Lower visual acuity at presentation = less complete recovery
Longer lesions in the optic nerve on MRI, particularly those
extending into the optic canal= poorer visual outcome
Most children have a good visual outcome despite a more
severe visual deficit on presentation
approximately 20 % - persistent functional visual impairment
MS= poor outcome
Aquaporin 4 specific serum autoab. positive= poor outcome
22. Recurrence
In the ONTT,
35 percent recurrence of optic neuritis at 10 years
14 percent in the original eye,
12 percent in the other eye,
9 percent in both eyes
recurrent optic neuritis = greater risk of developing MS
Recurrent ON + seropositivity for the aquaporin 4
specific serum autoantibody predicts subsequent NMO
23. Higher Risk of Subsequent multiple sclerosis
In the ONTT,
five year incidence of clinically definite MS – 30%
40 %at 12 years and
50 % at 15 years
F>M
Caucasians > Asians
African –Americans more likely to develop NMO
MRI abnormalities: presence of characteristic demyelinating lesions - a strong
predictor of, independent of no. of lesions
Retinal perivenous sheathing = higher risk of MS
OCB in CSF= higher risk of MS
HLADR2 alleles = higher risk of MS
24. Lower Risk of Subsequent multiple sclerosis
simultaneous bilateral involvement at initial
presentation
Age- risk is lower if the initial attack of ON occurs
in childhood
Patients at an older age (>35 to 40) are less likely
to develop MS
ON relatively uncommon in over 40 years
25. Treatment = Steroids
Patients in Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial (ONTT) were
randomly assigned to
oral prednisone (1 mg/kg/d) for 14 days with 4 day taper
IV methylprednisolone (250 mg four times/d) for 3 days f/b oral
prednisone (1 mg/kg per day) for 11 days with a four day taper
oral placebo for 14 days
IV methylprednisolone accelerated the recovery of visual
function
also reduced the risk of conversion to MS
Whereas, risk of recurrent ON in both eyes was higher
in oral steroid arm
26. IV treatment is used in
abnormal high signal abnormalities on brain MRI, since this may
delay the onset of MS.
severe or bilateral vision loss- may speed up recovery
IVIG and PLEX- do not have established efficacy in ON
27. Trial Name Drug Outcome at 3 years
The Controlled
High Risk Avonex
MS Prevention
Study (CHAMPS)
383 pts
Interferon
beta-1a
(Avonex), 30
μg IM each week
versus placebo
•significantly reduced 3 year
cumulative risk of developing MS
•smaller number of gadolinium enhancing
lesions on brain MRI
•The total volume of T2 lesions on MRI was
also smaller in
Early Treatment
of Multiple
Sclerosis Study
(ETOMS)
308 pts
interferon
beta1a
(Rebif), 22 μg
s/c each week
versus placebo
•reduced longterm risk of developing MS
•The time to occurrence of the next
demyelinating event was longer
•Fewer treated patients had new T2 weighted
lesions
the BENEFIT
trial,
483 pts
250 μg
interferon 1b
(Betaseron)
s/c or placebo
every other day
--------Outcomes similar to ETOMS-----------
PreCISe study
481 patients
glatiramer
acetate 20 mg
s/c or placebo
each day
--------Outcomes similar to ETOMS-----------
28. Common side effects
Depression
injection site reactions,
Flu like Symptoms
Deranged LFTs
potential benefits
longer attack free interval
Reduced number of demyelinating attacks
delay to MS associated disability
29. Treatment in children
Clinical trials have been limited to adults
IV Methylprednisolone to be considered for acute treatment for severe
debilitating bilateral vision
In general, immunomodulatory treatments with interferons are not used
in younger children,
Older children (>15 years) are probably appropriately treated under the
same guidelines as adults
30. Investigational treatments
Alfampridine (4- aminopyridine; fampridine), a
potassium channel blocker, may improve axonal
function in demyelinating disease.
Erythropoietin –
in a phase II clinical trial
active treatment was safe
associated with reduced retinal nerve fiber layer thinning on OCT
shortened latencies on VEP at 16 weeks.
31. References
The clinical profile of optic neuritis. Experience of the Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial.
Optic Neuritis Study Group. Arch Ophthalmol 1991; 109:1673
Beck RW, Gal RL, Bhatti MT, et al. Visual function more than 10 years after optic neuritis:
experience of the optic neuritis treatment trial. Am J Ophthalmol 2004; 137:77
Beck RW, Trobe JD, Moke PS, et al. High and low risk profiles for the development of
multiple sclerosis within 10 years after optic neuritis: experience of the optic neuritis
treatment trial. Arch Ophthalmol 2003; 121:944.
Nilsson P, Larsson EM, Maly Sundgren P, et al. Predicting the outcome of optic neuritis:
evaluation of risk factors after 30 years of followup. J Neurol 2005; 252:396
Comi G, Martinelli V, Rodegher M, et al. Effect of glatiramer acetate on conversion to
clinically definite multiple sclerosis in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (PreCISe
study): a randomised, doubleblind, placebo controlled trial. Lancet 2009; 374:1503.