eMedicine Specialties > Radiology > Head/Neck

Optic Neuritis: Multimedia

Author: Pil (Peter) S Kang, MD,, Attending Radiologist, Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences
Coauthor(s): Fletcher M Munter, MD, Program Director, National Capital Consortium Radiology Residency; Consulting Staff, Department of Radiology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Charles Swallow, MD, Department of Radiology, St Marks Hospital
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Jun 23, 2009

Multimedia

A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and ey...
(Enlarge Image)
Media file 1: A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and eye pain. No prior neurologic symptoms were noted. Axial short tau inversion recovery image demonstrates faint increased signal in the distal left optic nerve.
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A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and ey...

A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and eye pain. No prior neurologic symptoms were noted. Axial short tau inversion recovery image demonstrates faint increased signal in the distal left optic nerve.

A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and ey...
(Enlarge Image)
Media file 2: A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and eye pain. No prior neurologic symptoms were noted. Axial fat-suppressed postgadolinium T1-weighted image through the orbit reveals an intensely enhancing segment of the distal left optic nerve (corresponding to the site of subtle increased signal on the image in Image 1 in Multimedia).
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A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and ey...

A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and eye pain. No prior neurologic symptoms were noted. Axial fat-suppressed postgadolinium T1-weighted image through the orbit reveals an intensely enhancing segment of the distal left optic nerve (corresponding to the site of subtle increased signal on the image in Image 1 in Multimedia).

A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and ey...
(Enlarge Image)
Media file 3: A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and eye pain. No prior neurologic symptoms were noted. Coronal fat-suppressed postgadolinium T1-weighted image demonstrates intense enhancement within the optic nerve (same patient as Images 1-2 in Multimedia). No significant nerve expansion or enhancement of the adjacent tissues is seen. Note the normal right optic nerve for comparison.
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A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and ey...

A 43-year-old woman with acute vision loss and eye pain. No prior neurologic symptoms were noted. Coronal fat-suppressed postgadolinium T1-weighted image demonstrates intense enhancement within the optic nerve (same patient as Images 1-2 in Multimedia). No significant nerve expansion or enhancement of the adjacent tissues is seen. Note the normal right optic nerve for comparison.

A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye ...
(Enlarge Image)
Media file 4: A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye pain and vision decline. Axial fat-suppressed postcontrast T1-weighted image demonstrates enhancement in the intracanalicular portion of the left optic nerve.
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A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye ...

A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye pain and vision decline. Axial fat-suppressed postcontrast T1-weighted image demonstrates enhancement in the intracanalicular portion of the left optic nerve.

A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye ...
(Enlarge Image)
Media file 5: A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye pain and vision decline. Axial fluid-attenuation inversion recovery image demonstrates bilateral periventricular white matter lesions. Several additional and similar lesions were seen in other locations (not shown). No history of prior neurologic illness was noted in the patient, but in the setting of acute optic neuritis, the multiple white matter lesions in a number and pattern atypical for patient age were considered supportive of the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (same patient as Image 4 in Multimedia).
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A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye ...

A 35-year-old woman with acute onset of left eye pain and vision decline. Axial fluid-attenuation inversion recovery image demonstrates bilateral periventricular white matter lesions. Several additional and similar lesions were seen in other locations (not shown). No history of prior neurologic illness was noted in the patient, but in the setting of acute optic neuritis, the multiple white matter lesions in a number and pattern atypical for patient age were considered supportive of the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (same patient as Image 4 in Multimedia).

More on Optic Neuritis

Overview: Optic Neuritis
Imaging: Optic Neuritis
Follow-up: Optic Neuritis
Multimedia: Optic Neuritis
References
Further Reading
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References

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  39. Optic Neuritis Study Group. The 5-year risk of MS after optic neuritis. Experience of the optic neuritis treatment trial. Optic Neuritis Study Group. Neurology. Nov 1997;49(5):1404-13. [Medline].

  40. Trip SA, Wheeler-Kingshott C, Jones SJ, et al. Optic nerve diffusion tensor imaging in optic neuritis. Neuroimage. Oct 18 [Epub ahead of print] 2005;[Medline].

  41. Werring DJ, Bullmore ET, Toosy AT, et al. Recovery from optic neuritis is associated with a change in the distribution of cerebral response to visual stimulation: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. Apr 2000;68(4):441-9. [Medline].

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Keywords

optic neuritis, inflammation of the optic nerve, acute vision loss, multiple sclerosis, human leukocyte antigen Dw2, HLA-Dw2, human leukocyte antigen DR2, HLA-DR2, acute optic neuritis

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Pil (Peter) S Kang, MD,, Attending Radiologist, Diagnostic Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center; Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences
Pil (Peter) S Kang, MD, is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Fletcher M Munter, MD, Program Director, National Capital Consortium Radiology Residency; Consulting Staff, Department of Radiology, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Fletcher M Munter, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Roentgen Ray Society, American Society of Neuroradiology, Association of Program Directors in Radiology, Association of University Radiologists, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Charles Swallow, MD, Department of Radiology, St Marks Hospital
Charles Swallow, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology and American Roentgen Ray Society
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Barton F Branstetter IV, MD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Otolaryngology, and Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh; Director of Head and Neck Imaging, Clinical Director of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Division of Neuroradiology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Barton F Branstetter IV, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Medical Association, American Roentgen Ray Society, American Society of Neuroradiology, Pennsylvania Medical Society, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Bernard D Coombs, MB, ChB, PhD, Consulting Staff, Department of Specialist Rehabilitation Services, Hutt Valley District Health Board, New Zealand
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

C Douglas Phillips, MD, Director of Head and Neck Imaging, Division of Neuroradiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University/New York Presbyterian Hospital
C Douglas Phillips, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Medical Association, American Society of Head and Neck Radiology, American Society of Neuroradiology, Association of University Radiologists, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Robert M Krasny, MD, Resolution Imaging Medical Corporation
Robert M Krasny, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Roentgen Ray Society and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

James G Smirniotopoulos, MD, Professor of Radiology, Neurology, and Biomedical Informatics, Chairman, Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
James G Smirniotopoulos, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Roentgen Ray Society, American Society of Head and Neck Radiology, American Society of Neuroradiology, American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology, Association of University Radiologists, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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