The 'flicker test' according to Aulhorn in the diagnosis of acute optic neuritis

The flicker test, introduced by Aulhorn is a new simple method to detect acute optic neuritis. We examined 24 patients suffering from acute optic neuritis. 23 patients showed a pathological result. In 179 subjects (patients with other ophthalmological diseases and healthy persons) the flicker test always showed normal results. After restitution of acute optic neuritis the results of the flicker test return to normal while the visual evoked responses remain pathological in many cases. Thus the flicker test can be an efficient tool in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of acute optic neuritis.