[Two early-childhood cases of optic neuritis]

We reported two early-childhood cases suffering from acute optic neuritis (ON). Case 1 was a 3-year-old girl, who had a preceding upper respiratory infection, headache, nausea and subsequent sudden visual disturbance. Cranial MRI revealed multiple T2-elongated lesions in the white matter. She showed two neurological relapses including ON, leading to the diagnosis of clinically probable multiple sclerosis (MS). Case 2 was a 2-year-old boy, who had an acute onset of visual disturbance without any other neurological deficits. MRI with Gd-DTPA enhancement revealed not only a disorder of optic nerves but involvement of the white matter in the acute phase. It has been suggested that there may be a broad spectrum of demyelinating disorders between ON and MS even in early-childhood. Therefore, we should bear in mind to the subsequent progression to MS in childhood ON cases with silent brain lesions.