Highlights
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Optic neuritis is an inflammatory optic neuropathy that is often indicative of autoimmune neurological disorders including multiple sclerosis, myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease, and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder.
Early clinical recognition of optic neuritis is important to determine the possible etiology, which influences prognosis and treatment. Recovery of high-contrast visual acuity is common in people with idiopathic optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis-associated optic neuritis; however, residual deficits in contrast sensitivity, binocular vision, and motion perception may affect vision-specific quality of life metrics.
In contrast, recovery of visual acuity may be poorer and optic nerve atrophy more severe in individuals seropositive for antibodies to myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein, AQP4, and CRMP5 than in individuals with typical optic neuritis due to idiopathic optic neuritis or associated with multiple sclerosis.
Key clinical, imaging, and laboratory findings differentiate these disorders, allowing clinicians to focus their diagnostic studies and optimize acute and preventive treatments.
Guided by early and accurate diagnosis of optic neuritis subtypes, timely use of high-dose corticosteroids and, in some cases, plasmapheresis could prevent loss of high-contrast vision, improve contrast sensitivity, and preserve vision. of color and visual fields.
Advances in our knowledge, diagnosis, and treatment of optic neuritis will ultimately improve our understanding of autoimmune neurological disorders, improve clinical trial design, and spearhead therapeutic innovation.
