Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Optic neuritis is an inflammation of the optic nerve, the bundle of nerve fibers in your eye that transmits visual information to your brain. Pain and temporary vision loss are common symptoms of optic neuritis.
Optic neuritis usually develops due to an autoimmune disorder that may be triggered by a viral infection. In some people, signs and symptoms of optic neuritis may be an indication of multiple sclerosis, a condition resulting in inflammation and damage to nerves in your brain and spinal cord.
Most people who experience a single episode of optic neuritis eventually recover their vision. Treatment with steroid medications may speed up vision recovery.
- Germann CA, et al. Ophthalmic diagnoses in the ED: Optic neuritis. American Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2007;25:834.
- Asturias EJ, et al. Postinfectious and vaccine-related encephalitis. In: Cohen J, et al. Cohen & Powderly: Infectious Diseases. 2nd ed. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2004:307.
- Degenhardt A. Optic neuritis. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2008:646.
- Osborne B. Optic neuritis: Pathophysiology, clinical features, and diagnosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 6, 2009.
- Osborne B. Optic neuritis: Prognosis and treatment. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 6, 2009.
- Multiple sclerosis risk after optic neuritis: Final Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial follow-up. Archives of Neurology. 2008;65:727.
- Optic neuritis. The Merck Manuals Online Medical Library: Home Edition for Patients and Caregivers. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec20/ch235/ch235c.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2009.
- Weinshenker BG, et al. Neuromyelitis optica IgG predicts relapse following longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. Annals of Neurology. 2006;59:566.
- Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Polymyalgia/default.asp#poly6. Accessed Jan. 8, 2009.
- Olek MJ. Epidemiology, risk factors, and clinical features of multiple sclerosis in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 6, 2009.
