title: [Multifocal visually evoked responses in two children with optic neuritis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Central visual functions of two children with idiopathic optic neuritis were analyzed and followed in the course of the disease by using multifocal visually evoked potentials (mVEP) and other ophthalmological tests.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two girls 10 and 11 years of age with unilateral optic neuritis participated in this study. At the initial onset of the disease, visual acuity of the patients was below 20/400 and severe central visual field impairment was found in the affected eyes. There were no abnormal neurological or radiological findings suggesting multiple sclerosis in these patients. The mVEPs were recorded with a stimulus of 37 hexagons composed of black and white triangles subtending 35 degrees of visual angle.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The amplitude of mVEPs from many stimulating locations was severely reduced in the course of the recovery of these patients. Although visual acuity and perimetric sensitivity in the affected eyes recovered to normal after steroid pulse therapy, the amplitude of mVEPs still remained 1/3 to 1/2 of that of the opposite healthy eye. The mVEPs gradually recovered to near the level of the opposite healthy eyes at the latest examination.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recovery from the central visual impairment due to infantile optic neuritis is more gradual than that suggested by subjective ophthalmological examinations. There is still optic nerve dysfunction after visual acuity and visual field have recovered to normal. The mVEP is one of the most sensitive tools for detecting optic nerve dysfunction in patients with optic neuritis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahi-machi, Niigata 951-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuhisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hatase
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanimoto
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueki
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Usui
authors.forename: Mineo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takaki
authors.forename: Haruki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abe
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000503:physiopathology*