Multiple Sclerosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Multiple Sclerosis, including details on diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, prognosis.

Is the frequency of abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging in isolated optic neuritis related to the prevalence of multiple sclerosis? A global comparison.

Swanton JK, Fernando K, Dalton CM, Miszkiel KA, Thompson AJ, Plant GT, Miller DH

NMR Research Unit, Institute of Neurology, University College London, Queen Square, London, UK. j.swanton@ion.ucl.ac.uk

The link between optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis is well established, as is the increased risk of conversion to multiple sclerosis, with lesions seen at presentation on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain. One or more asymptomatic lesions were present in 77% of the optic neuritis cohort from London, UK, a higher proportion than that reported in other large cohorts studied elsewhere, where generally lower prevalence rates for multiple sclerosis are also reported. These observations may support the hypothesis that optic neuritis is more likely to be associated with abnormalities on MRI and to be due to multiple sclerosis in geographical regions where multiple sclerosis is more common.

Published 17 August 2006 in J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 77(9): 1070-2.
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