Optic neuritis

Optic Neuritis Symptoms, Treatment and Cause

The most common cause of inflammation of the optic nerve is demyelination (e.g. multiple sclerosis). Disc swelling due to optic neuritis is distinguished from other causes of disc oedema by early and severe visual loss.

Retrobulbar neuritis implies that the inflammatory process is within the optic nerve but behind the bulb (i.e. the eye), so that no abnormality is seen at the disc itself in spite of visual impairment.

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON)

LHON is a common cause of isolated blindness in otherwise healthy young men. Unilateral or bilateral optic nerve neuropathy develops over the course of days or weeks. There is sometimes disc swelling and telangiectasia around the disc in the acute phase, followed by optic atrophy. Severe bilateral visual loss is usual by the age of 40. Maternal inheritance and genetic analysis have pointed to pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutations as the cause, many with a mutation at G11778A. Exceptional cases occur in women.

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