Visual Function following Treatment of Optic Neuritis

Background: Optic neuritis is a common cause of visual loss in young adults and often the first manifestation of multiple sclerosis. Recent studies have shown that treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone results in more rapid recovery of vision, but without any long term difference in visual acuity. This study was carried out to evaluate clinical characteristics of patients with optic neuritis and visual outcome after intravenous methylprednisolone treatment. Methods: In a case series study, 40 cases with optic neuritis were evaluated. Before and after treatment with methylprednisolone according to optic neuritis treatment trial, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, color vision, streopsis and visual field were analyzed. Results: 67.5% of the patients were females. The most common age group was between 20 and 40 (60%). Blind spot enlargement and other visual field defects were also returned to relatively normal value after the treatment. Central scotoma was the most common field defect (70%) and mild Dutan defect was the most common color vision (60%) defect in this study. Visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, color vision, streopsis and visual field were significantly reduced in optic neuritis, relatively returning to the normal level after treatment. Conclusion: It seems that the assessment of other visual functions, besides visual acuity, is important in a patient with optic neuritis, because patients usually remain aware of visual deficits other than decreased visual acuity.