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Published on: April 14, 2014
Clinical characteristics of Japanese children with optic neuritis
Atsushi Mizota1, Miyoko Niimura, Emiko Adachi-Usami
1Department of Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Insights
Clinical features of pediatric optic neuritis in Japan were similar to previous reports. The rate of developing multiple sclerosis in Japanese children was comparable to international pediatric and adult cases.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Neurology
Background:
- Optic neuritis in children presents differently from adults and varies by race.
- Understanding the specific clinical characteristics in different populations is crucial for accurate diagnosis and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the clinical characteristics of optic neuritis in Japanese children.
- To compare these characteristics with existing data from other pediatric and adult populations.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of medical records for 41 children diagnosed with optic neuritis.
- Data collected included demographics, visual acuity, laterality, preceding infections/immunizations, and neurological comorbidities like multiple sclerosis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.
Main Results:
- Clinical features of optic neuritis in Japanese children were consistent with prior international studies.
- The incidence of developing multiple sclerosis in this cohort was similar to European/North American children and Japanese adults.
Conclusions:
- The clinical presentation of optic neuritis in Japanese children aligns with global patterns.
- Pediatric optic neuritis in Japan does not appear to have a lower risk of progression to multiple sclerosis compared to other populations.
Abstract:
The clinical characteristics of children with optic neuritis have been reported to be different from that of adults and to vary among different races. To determine the clinical characteristics of Japanese children with optic neuritis, we examined the medical records of 41 children who were diagnosed with optic neuritis at the Department of Ophthalmology of Chiba University Hospital between January 1979 and December 2001. Information on the sex, age of onset, laterality, initial visual acuity, final visual acuity, recent infections and immunizations, and presence of systemic neurologic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, was obtained. These findings revealed that the clinical features of optic neuritis in children were similar to those reported earlier. The percentage of optic neuritis cases that developed multiple sclerosis in children was similar to that for children in Europe and North America, and this percentage was not lower than that in adults in our clinic. These findings can be taken as the characteristics of optic neuritis of children in Japan.
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