Optic neuritis

Optic neuritis is the inflammation of the optic nerve that may cause a complete or partial loss of vision. The optic nerve comprises axons that emerge from the retina of the eye and carry visual information to the primary visual nuclei, most of which is relayed to the occipital cortex of the brain to be processed into vision. Inflammation of the optic nerve causes loss of vision usually because of the swelling and destruction of the myelin sheath... More

Optic neuritis is the inflammation of the optic nerve that may cause a complete or partial loss of vision. The optic nerve comprises axons that emerge from the retina of the eye and carry visual information to the primary visual nuclei, most of which is relayed to the occipital cortex of the brain to be processed into vision. Inflammation of the optic nerve causes loss of vision usually because of the swelling and destruction of the myelin sheath covering the optic nerve. Direct axonal damage may also play a role in nerve destruction in many cases. The most common etiology is multiple sclerosis. Up to 50% of patients with MS will develop an episode of optic neuritis, and 20-30% of the time optic neuritis is the presenting sign of MS. The presence of demyelinating white matter lesions on brain MRI at the time of presentation of optic neuritis is the strongest predictor for developing clinically definite MS. Almost half of the patients with optic neuritis have white matter lesions...

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