title: Multifocal VEP assessment of optic neuritis evolution.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate multifocal visual evoked potentials (mfVEP) changes in optic neuritis (ON) and fellow eyes during first year after the attack.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-seven patients and twenty-five controls were examined. Patients were classified as multiple sclerosis (MS) group, high risk (HR) or low risk (LR) groups for conversion to MS. mfVEP recordings and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recovery of amplitude and shortening of latency was fastest within the first 3months. The largest amplitude reduction and longest latency delay of the ON eye were recorded in the MS group. This was accompanied by deterioration of both parameters in fellow eyes (p<0.03). mfVEP remained stable in fellow eyes of the LR group. Inter-eye asymmetry showed similar amount of amplitude reduction and latency delay in all three groups. RNFL thickness strongly correlated with mfVEP amplitude as early as 3 months after ON (R(2)=0.6, p=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  mfVEP amplitude is an early predictor of post-ON axonal loss. The apparent more severe involvement of ON eyes in the MS subgroup may be due to subclinical inflammation along the visual pathway.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Severity of amplitude reduction and latency delay after episode of ON is not MS-related. Retro-chiasmal demyelination is a possible factor contributing to amplitude and latency differences between MS and non-MS patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Department of Ophthalmology, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: d_alshowair@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Daniah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Alshowaeir
authors.affiliation: Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia; Department of Neurology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Con
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yannikas
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, St Vincent Hospital, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garrick
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Anneke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Der Walt
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Stuart L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Australian School of Advanced Medicine, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klistorner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Axonal loss; Demyelination; Multiple sclerosis; Optic neuritis; mfVEP