[Comparative treatment of acute optic neuritis with "boluses" of intravenous methylprednisolone or oral prednisone]

Abstract

Sixteen patients with acute optic neuritis were studied, and randomized into two groups of treatment. Group I was assigned to in hospital treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone 500 mg Q8 hours for 10 doses, followed by oral prednisone for two weeks and tapering doses thereafter. Group II was treated with oral prednisone one mg per kilogram of body weight for two weeks followed by tapering doses. All patients had examination of visual acuity, visual field at baseline and repeated on weeks two, four and sixteen. Two patients in group I were lost to follow up, and three patients (two in group I and one in group II) had previous established diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and the onset of acute optic neuritis was considered a recurrence of the disease. There was no statistical difference between the groups with regards to clinical outcome, visual acuity and visual field examination (p = 0.329) Fisher test.