Optic Neuritis Etiology And Outcome Of Recurrent Optic Neuritis Discussed

Objective: This study overview the research and treatment progress on Optic Neuritis (ON) in modern medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). To investigate the etiological distribution of the patients with optic neuritis in China and compare the results with those in western countries. To estimate the relations of recurrent optic neuritis and the inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system.Methods: History-taking, ophthalmological and neurological detailed clinical and laboratorial examinations were performed on 63 patients with primarily diagnosed ON. We determined the etiologies using international accepted diagnostic criteria. All cases had been followed-up to investigate the turnover.Results: 44 cases (69.84%) met ON criteria in this group, among them 32 cases were considered as idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis (IDON). One ON case suffered from nasal sinusitis. One case suffered from autoimmune response. In the ON group the cause of 10 cases remained unknown. 19 cases discrepancied ON, among which anterior ischemic optic neuropathy(AION) and leber's hereditary optic neuropathy(LHON) were the commoner than others. Among 21 patients (47.73%) of recurrent optic neuritis, 6 patients were diagnosed eventually to an inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system. 5 cases were multiple sclerosis and one was neuromyelitis optica.Conclusion: IDON is the most common pathogeny of ON. Many diseases confused with ON, such as AION and LHON. The inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system are the important etiologies of IDON. The long follow-up visit conduces to investigate etiology.