Ammari W1,*, Zaghdoudi A1, Mestiri M1, Mahmoud A1, Khairallah-Ksiaa I2, Messaoud R1.
1 Service d’Ophtalmologie, CHU Mahdia (Tunisie)
2 Service d’Ophtalmologie, CHU Monastir (Tunisie).
Keywords
Optical neuritis, Child, Magnetic resonance imaging, Multiple sclerosis, Corticosteroid therapy, Prognosis.
Abstract
Aim. The aim of this work was to clarify the clinical, therapeutic, and evolutionary characteristics of optic neuritis in young age.
Methods. Retrospective study of 21 patients (31 eyes) examined in the Ophthalmology Department at Tahar Sfar University Hospital in Mahdia and Fattouma Bourguiba in Monastir, between 20016 and 2021. All patients had a complete ophthalmological examination, a visual field, visual evoked potentials, orbito-cerebral MRI and in some cases serology, in particular serology for syphilis and Bartonella.H.
Results. The average age of our patients was 12.04 years. A female predominance was found with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.75. Initial visual acuity was less than or equal to 5/10 in 26 eyes (83.9%), papilledema was present in 18 eyes (58.1%). MRI performed in all patients showed demyelination lesions in 3 patients (14.3%). Idiopathic optic neuritis was found in seventeen children (80.9%). Treatment was based on corticosteroid therapy in all patients with a gain in visual acuity greater than or equal to 2 lines in 17 patients (80.9%).
Conclusion. Optic neuritis is not uncommon in children. Etiologies are dominated by idiopathic optic neuritis. The prognosis is generally good but its potential association with multiple sclerosis is feared.