title: Optic neuritis: the eye as a window to the brain.
abstract: Acute optic neuritis is a common clinical problem, requiring a structured assessment to guide management and prevent visual loss. The optic nerve is the most accessible part of the central nervous system, so optic neuritis also represents an important paradigm to help decipher mechanisms of damage and recovery in the central nervous system. Important developments include the advent of optical coherence tomography as a biomarker of central nervous system axonal loss, the discovery of new pathological antibodies, notably against aquaporin-4 and, more recently, myelin oligodendrocyte protein, and emerging evidence for sodium channel blockade as a novel therapeutic approach to address energy failure in neuroinflammatory disease.
  
  
  
  We will present a practical approach to assessment of optic neuritis, highlighting the role of optical coherence tomography, when to test for new antibodies and the results of recent trials of sodium channel blockers.
  
  
  
  Optic neuritis remains a clinical diagnosis; increasingly optical coherence tomography is a key ancillary investigation. Patients with 'typical' optic neuritis, commonly a first presentation of multiple sclerosis, must be distinguished from 'atypical' optic neuritis, who require testing for new pathological antibodies and require more aggressive-targeted treatment. Sodium channel blockade is an emerging and novel potential therapeutic pathway in neuroinflammatory disease.
authors.affiliation: aSheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience and Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK bQueen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: Ahmed T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Toosy
mesh_terms: D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence