This website is intended for a European audience and is made available by Amgen.
This website is intended for a European audience and is made available by Amgen.
Dr. JOACHIM HAVLA: Optic Neuritis explained
This video features Dr. Joachim Havla explaining optic neuritis, its symptoms, and its relationship with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). It highlights the differences in optic neuritis between NMOSD and multiple sclerosis, emphasizing the need for early and effective treatment to prevent relapses and long-term disability. Dr. Havla also discusses the potential for future advancements in NMOSD care, including more effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure.
[Dr. Joachim Havla, Neurologist and Senior Physician at LMU Hospital, Munich]
Typical optic neuritis is an acute and quite severe visual impairment with a reduction in visual acuity, blurred vision and colour vision defects and pain when the eye when there's eye movement. And optic neuritis is an ultimate inflammation of the optic nerve.
Optic neuritis is a very common symptom in NMOSD. 30% of the relapses in NMOSD are optic neuritis and this makes optic neuritis one of the six main criteria for diagnosing NMOSD. In comparison to multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis in NMOSD is usually more severe, is more often bilateral and sometimes accompanied by papillyedema, and this means there's a swelling of the optic disc. The recovery after relapsing therapy is usually worse and so further optic neuritis in NMOSD must be avoided.
Optic neuritis is a typical symptom of various diseases. It causes an inflammation of the optic nerve which may be in the front part the front part of the optic nerve in which case is it is called the anterior optic neuritis. Or in the in the more back part of the optic nerve just before the chiasm, in which case it's called posterior optic neuritis. Different optic neuritis types differ in the location and the length of the inflammatory lesion and so typical symptoms are visual acuity reduction, blurred vision, colour vision loss and pain with the eye movement.
Optic neuritis differs in clinical and also in paraclinical findings. And this is different in NMOSD. There, you have more bilateral optic neuritis and the remission is probably more worse. There's usually no swelling of the optic disc in MS, but there is swelling in NMOSD.
The treatment depends on the cause and also the severity of the optic neuritis in particular NMOSD optic neuritis requires really early escalated relapse treatment and we are using blood wash and this is a plasma exchange or immunoabsorption. Steroids are also used very often and then in the end it's an individual decision how to treat the optic neuritis.
We cannot prevent the very first onset of the disease and unfortunately every episode leads to disability. And in a very positive future we will be able to provide very effective treatment for the first attack and achieve remission of almost all symptoms. And by starting highly effective treatment options early on, you can then prevent all following relapses. And by this, we are may be able to reduce the burden of the disease but also the burden of treatment. And we probably we have a 100% effective treatment option and no side effects and that will be just ideal for our patients. The next and last step would be the cure of NMOSD. I think there are a few steps in between, but we are on our way.
If you or a loved one experiences any of the symptoms described by Dr. Havla, we encourage you to talk to your doctor to ensure appropriate diagnosis and care.
For more information on NMOSD and patient resources, visit: www.nmosd-in-focus.com.
