Optic neuritis (ON) is one of the symptom of a central nervous system demyelinating, systemic or infectious disease. The pathogenetic mechanism of ON is still not completely clear, and its core is inflammation and immune that occurred in the optic nerve axons, and apoptosis of RGC was induced. Few patients experience recurrent episodes after treatment, presenting a remission - recurrence course of polyphasic disease, named recurrent ON (RON). Two forms of RON have been assigned: recurrent isolated optic neuritis, which is a chronic corticosteroid-dependent optic neuropathy with intermittent acute relapses, and recurrent isolated optic neuritis, which is a non-progressive relapsing ON without steroid dependence. Recurrence of ON causes cumulative damage to the optic nerve lesions and impaired visual signal transmission, thus causing irreversible damage to vision. Therefore, it is very important to have a deep understanding of the pathogenesis of ON and the clinical characteristics of RON, so as to better conduct clinical treatment.
Infectious and infection-related optic neuritis is an important type of optic neuritis. Infectious optic neuritis is caused by direct spread of pathogenic organism to optic nerve from local infection or blood transmission. Infection-related optic neuritis is caused by pathogens-induced immune allergic reaction. They present with atypical clinical features of optic neuritis, including progressive vision loss, persistent eye pain or headache, ineffectiveness or even worse of glucocorticoid therapy. Fundus manifestations include optic disc swelling with peripapillary hemorrhage or neuro-retinitis, and the feature of concurrent uveitis. When these patients first visit ophthalmic clinics, they often lack signs of systemic infection, thus it is easy to misdiagnose them as other types of optic neuropathy and mistakenly treat them. In particular, high-dose glucocorticoid therapy can lead to very serious consequences. Therefore, how to correctly diagnose infectious and infection-related optic neuritis in the early stages are very important for ophthalmologists and need to be seriously kept in our mind.
Purpose To investigate mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) mutations in optic neuritis of unknow reason (ONUR) and to assess the pathogenic and differential diagnostic values of screening for mt-DNA mutations in ONUR. Method Thirty patients with ONUR were screened for mt-DNA mutations by using SSCP,mutation-specific primer PCR and sequencing. Results mt-DNA mutations were found in 12 out of the thirty patients.All of the mutations were at 11778 position,but no one at 3460 and 15257. Conclusions Quite a number of patients (12/30,40%) with ONUR were caused actually by mt-DNA mutation．Screening for mt-DNA mutation in these patients has a pathogenic and differential diagnostic significance. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis,2000,16:78-79)
Objective To explore underlying causes of presumptive optic neuritis (ON) in children. Methods Retrospective study of continuous cases with presumed diagnosis of optic neuritis in childhood. Results 104 cases(65.8%) met ON criteria in this cohort of children, among wh ich 80 cases (76.9%) were considered as idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis (IDON). Infectious optic neuritis and inflammatory optic neuropathy were found on 3 cases respectively. The cause of 18 cases remains unknown. Leber hereditary optic neuropathy and non-organic visual acuity loss account most of the 54 case s misdiagnosed as optic neuritis. Conclusions As in adult patients, idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis is the most common pathogeny of optic neuritis in children, while infectious events were more common in children. Leber hereditary optic neuropathy and nonorganic visual acuity loss were the most common disease confused with optic neuritis in childhood. Some rare disease in childhood which can cause optic nerve lesion should also be considered. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2008,24：95-98)
ObjectiveTo evaluate the visual improvement of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for refractory optic neuritis (ON) patients in acute phase.MethodsSeventy-five affected eyes from 44 refractory ON patients with severe visual defect or resistance to high-dose intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) therapy, who were admitted to The Chinese PLA General Hospital between January 2015 and August 2016, were recruited and received TPE therapy. Among these patients, 11 were male and 33 were female; the average age was 39.1±13.9; 31 patients had two affected eyes, 13 patients had one affected eye. The course of the disease on the group of patients were more than 2 weeks, and the visual acuity worsened for more than 10 days and continued to deteriorate. TPE treatment was performed on all of the patients. BCVA was recorded before and 24 h after treatment, and the visual function was scored using visual outcome scale (VOS). At the same time, the adverse reactions of TPE treatment were observed. The paired t-test was used to compare the VOS before and after treatment. The correlation between VOS before and after treatment was analyzed by Linear-by-Linear correlation analysis.ResultsAmong 75 affected eyes, the post-therapy VOS 3.89±2.13 was significantly improved from pre-therapy VOS 5.56±1.69 (t=6.77, P＜0.001). Forty-eight of 75 eyes were improved at lease 1 score of VOS, the overall rate of visual improvement was 64.0%. Especially among the eyes with initial vision of light perception, an improved rate of 82.4% was presented. 75.0% in those eyes with initial vision of count fingers and 67.7% in no light perception. Linear-by-Linear correlation analysis showed a significant linear correlation between the scores of VOS before and after TPE treatment (r=0.398, P=0.01). During the course of TPE treatment, 5 patients had mild adverse reactions such as low calcium reaction and allergic reaction and were well controlled after treatment.ConclusionUsing TPE to treat refractory ON in acute phased can improve the visual function of patients.
Objective To construct and evaluate a screening and diagnostic system based on color fundus images and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted screening for optic neuritis (ON) and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). MethodsA diagnostic test study. From 2016 to 2020, 178 cases 267 eyes of NAION patients (NAION group) and 204 cases 346 eyes of ON patients (ON group) were examined and diagnosed in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center of Sun Yat-sen University; 513 healthy individuals of 1 160 eyes (the normal control group) with normal fundus by visual acuity, intraocular pressure and optical coherence tomography examination were collected from 2018 to 2020. All 2 909 color fundus images were as the data set of the screening and diagnosis system, including 730, 805, and 1 374 images for the NAION group, ON group, and normal control group, respectively. The correctly labeled color fundus images were used as input data, and the EfficientNet-B0 algorithm was selected for model training and validation. Finally, three systems for screening abnormal optic discs, ON, and NAION were constructed. The subject operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the ROC (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and heat map were used as indicators of diagnostic efficacy. ResultsIn the test data set, the AUC for diagnosing the presence of an abnormal optic disc, the presence of ON, and the presence of NAION were 0.967 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.947-0.980], 0.964 (95%CI 0.938-0.979), and 0.979 (95%CI 0.958-0.989), respectively. The activation area of the systems were mainly located in the optic disc area in the decision-making process. ConclusionAbnormal optic disc, ON and NAION, and screening diagnostic systems based on color fundus images have shown accurate and efficient diagnostic performance.
ObjectiveTo investigate the changes in the nerve fiber layer of the cornea in patients with demyelinating optic neuritis (DON) and its correlation with visual acuity. MethodsA cross-sectional study. From March 2021 to July 2022, 27 cases (39 eyes) of DON patients diagnosed in the Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology of Beijing Tongren Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University were enrolled in this study. According to the serological test results, the patients were divided into aquaporin 4 antibody associated optic neuritis (AQP4-ON group) and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody associated optic neuritis (MOG-ON group), with 15 cases (19 eyes) and 12 cases (20 eyes) respectively. According to previous history of glucocorticoid treatment, the patients were divided into glucocorticoid treated group and non-glucocorticoid treated group, with 17 cases (27 eyes) and 10 cases (12 eyes) respectively. Twenty healthy volunteers (20 eyes) with age- and gender-matched were selected as the control group. All eyes underwent best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) examinations. BCVA was performed using Snellen's standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, which was converted into logarithmic minimum angle resolution (logMAR) visual acuity during statistics. The corneal nerve fiber length (CNFL), corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD), corneal nerve fiber branch length (CNBL), corneal nerve fiber branch density (CNBD) and the density of corneal dendritic cells (DC) were detected by IVCM examination. Parameter comparison between groups by t-test and Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test. The correlation between logMAR BCVA and pamameters of corneal nerve fibers were analyzed using Spearman analysis. ResultsThe CNFL, CNFD, and CNBL of the DON group and the control group were (10.67±2.55) mm/mm2, (57.78±12.35) root/mm2, (3.27±1.34) mm/mm2, and (13.74±3.05) mm/mm2, (70.95±13.14) root/mm2, and (4.22±1.03) mm/mm2, respectively; the difference in CNFL, CNFD, and CNBL between the two groups were statistically significant (t=4.089, 3.795, 2.773; P＜0.05). The CNFL, CNBL, and CNBD of the affected eyes in the MOG-ON group and AQP4-ON group were (12.02±2.13) mm/mm2, (3.80±1.19) mm/mm2, (47.97±8.86) fibers/mm2, and (9.25±2.19) mm/mm2, (2.72±1.19) mm/mm2, (39.43±13.86) fibers/mm2, respectively; the differences in CNFL, CNBL, and CNBD between the two groups were statistically significant (t=－4.002, －2.706, －2.306; P＜0.05). The corneal DC density of the patients in the hormone treated group and the non-hormone treated group was (24.43±8.32) and (41.22±9.86) cells/mm2, respectively. The difference in corneal DC density between the two subgroups was statistically significant (P＜0.001). Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant negative correlation between logMAR BCVA and CNBL and CNFL in patients with DON (r=－0.422, －0.456; P＜0.05). ConclusionsThere are different degrees of corneal nerve fiber damage in patients with different types of DON. There was a negative correlation between BCVA and the length of corneal nerve fibers.
Objective To compare the differences of optic disc morphology and optic nerve head parameters between Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome and optic neuritis (ON) with optic disc edema. Methods This is a retrospective study including 21 first-onset VKH patients (35 eyes) as VKH group and 22 first-onset ON patients with optic disc edema (27 eyes) as ON group. The differences of age (t=−1.11) and gender (χ2=0.20) between two groups were not significant (P＞0.05). Sixty-two eyes of 43 age and gender-matched healthy subjects were enrolled in this study as control group. All subjects underwent three dimensional optical coherence tomography (3D-OCT) examinations. The difference of optic disc morphology between two groups was observed. The parameters included average thickness of entire circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (CP-RNFL), thickness of nasal, superior, temporal and inferior quadrant of CP-RNFL, disc area, disc cup area, rim area, cup/disc (C/D) area ratio, C/D horizontal diameter ratio and C/D vertical diameter ratio. The disc retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) angle was observed too. Results Among 35 eyes in VKH group, 31 eyes (88.57%) had retinal detachment next to the disc, 3 eyes (8.57%) had serrated inner limiting membranes of the disc. Twenty eyes (64.52%) had highly reflective points, lines, or membrane-like structures in the retinal detachment areas. No such signs appeared in ON patients. Compared with ON group, the optic cup area, C/D area ratio, C/D horizontal diameter ratio and C/D vertical diameter ratio were bigger, the thickness of mean CP-RNFL and the superior, inferior quadrants of CP-RNFL were thinner, disc RPE angles was smaller in VKH group (P＜0.05). Compared with control group, the disc area, optic cup area, rim area were bigger, C/D vertical diameter ratio was smaller, the mean CP-RNFL and 4 quadrants CP-RNFL were thicker, disc RPE angles was smaller in VKH group (P＜0.05); the disc area, optic cup area, C/D area ratio, C/D horizontal diameter ratio and C/D vertical diameter ratio were smaller, the mean CP-RNFL and 4 quadrants CP-RNFL were thicker, disc RPE angles was bigger in VKH group (P＜0.05). Conclusions VKH patients have smaller disc RPE angles and more chance to develop retinal detachment next to disc than ON patients. The C/D area ratio, C/D horizontal diameter ratio and C/D vertical diameter ratio are bigger, the mean CP-RNFL and the superior, inferior quadrants of CP-RNFL are thinner in VKH eyes.