Visual Outcome and Prognostic Factors of Optic Neuritis: A Perspective from the East

Optic neuritis is an inflammatory disorder of the optic nerve often resulting in a demyelination process. In the west and in Caucasian populations, the optic neuritis treatment trial demonstrated good recovery and excellent visual outcomes with a significant risk of conversion into multiple sclerosis. However recent reports from the Asian and African continents have noted a significantly different clinical profile and outcomes are reported to be worse than the West. Prognostic factors for visual recovery in optic neuritis have been found to include visual acuity at presentation, clinical signs in the form of retrobulbar pain and disc edema, race and ethnicity, age and retinal thinning on OCT. The risk of conversion to multiple sclerosis is low and values ranging from 0-5% have been reported in various studies. This review collates information about optic neuritis from the Eastern part of the world with regard to clinical profile, visual outcome, prognostic factors and risk of conversion to multiple sclerosis.