[MR imaging of optic neuritis using short T1 IR (inversion recovery)]

We evaluated the ability of MRI using short T1 inversion recovery (STIR) to diagnose optic neuritis. Eleven patients with previous or recent attack of optic neuritis were studied with MRI at 0.5 tesla. STIR images revealed high signal regions in 7 of 12 symptomatic and 5 of 10 asymptomatic nerves. Three of five asymptomatic nerves with high intensity were pertinent to the cases with past attack and seemed to reflect the demyelinating change. The other two nerves were pertinent to the cases without past attack and seemed to show occult lesions. We consider that STIR is useful in detection of optic nerve lesions associated with optic neuritis.