[A case of optic neuritis associated with anticardiolipin antibodies]

We reported a case of optic neuritis with the persistence of severe visual loss and central scotoma in a 26-year-old woman who was proven to have biologic false positive test for syphilis, and the elevated serum titres of IgG and IgM anticardiolipin antibodies. C.S.F. findings showed the absence of oligoclonal bands and the presence of IgM anticardiolipin antibody. She was treated twice at intervals of two weeks with methylprednisolone 1000 mg intravenously daily for three days (pulse therapy), and was started on oral prednisolone 60 mg daily which tapered gradually. After the second treatment of the pulse therapy, her visual acuity was improved remarkably and the titre of anticardiolipin antibodies became normal. Her clinical course seemed to be different from that of the optic neuritis of multiple sclerosis, in which many of patients recover near normal visual acuity after a first attack. We suggested that antiphospholipid antibodies might play a role in the etiology of her optic neuritis.