Pediatric Optic Neuritis
Niphon Chirapapaisan MD*,**, Mark S Borchert MD*,***
Affiliation : * Doheny Eye Institue and the Department of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA ** Department of Ophthalmology, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand *** Division of Ophthalmology, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Objective : Describe the clinical characteristics of pediatric optic neuritis.
Material and Method: Retrospective observational case series was performed on patients < 12years of age
with optic neuritis at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Results : Thirty-one patients (48 eyes) were identified. Mean follow-up was 2.7 years. There were 17 pre-
adolescents (< 10 years old) in group I, and 14 adolescents (10-12 years old) in group II. Females comprised
59% of group I, and 71% of group II. Bilateral cases comprised 65% from group I, and 43% from group II. Five
patients from group I had acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). Two patients from group II had
multiple sclerosis (MS). No other patients developed MS. There was no difference in initial or final vision for
the eyes with or without steroid treatment.
Conclusion : Pediatric optic neuritis has no gender or racial predilection, is usually bilateral, and is associated
with ADEM rather than MS.
Keywords : Optic neuritis, Pediatric, Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, Multiple sclerosis, Steroids
