The clinical features, MRI findings, and outcome of optic neuritis in children

Abstract

Contrary to expectations, optic neuritis (ON) in childhood was more likely to be unilateral, multiple sclerosis (MS) risk was high (36% at 2 years), and bilateral rather than unilateral ON was associated with a greater likelihood of MS. Clinical findings extrinsic to the visual system on baseline examination (p < 0.0001) and MRI evidence of white matter lesions outside the optic nerves (p < 0.0001) were strongly correlated with MS outcome.