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LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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Year : 2017 | Volume
: 65
| Issue : 11 | Page : 1267 |
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Pediatric optic neuritis: Points to ponder!
Selvakumar Ambika, Krishnakumar Padmalakshmi
Department of Neuroophthalmology, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Date of Web Publication | 13-Nov-2017 |
Correspondence Address: Selvakumar Ambika Department of Neuroophthalmology, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai - 600 006, Tamil Nadu India
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_597_17
How to cite this article: Ambika S, Padmalakshmi K. Pediatric optic neuritis: Points to ponder!. Indian J Ophthalmol 2017;65:1267 |
Sir,
I read with great interest this article titled, “Clinical profile and neuroimaging in pediatric optic neuritis in Indian population: A case series” by Khadse et al.[1] The article states that it is the first series of childhood optic neuritis reported in Indian literature and their contribution is impressive. However, after reading the article, I have few concerns and need some clarifications from the authors.
Optic neuritis in children is considered to be common following viral prodrome and vaccination.[2],[3] Did any of the cases in the study developed optic neuritis after vaccination? Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a common demyelinating disorder of childhood which can present with optic neuritis and have brain lesions. It is clinically difficult to differentiate a multiphasic ADEM from multiple sclerosis (MS) in a setting of clinically isolated syndrome as optic neuritis alone.[4] It is mentioned in the article that only one patient had ADEM and four patients were diagnosed as MS, but the clinical and radiological features of ADEM are not clearly explained. They have also mentioned one of the four patients diagnosed as MS, who later developed transverse myelitis and urinary incontinence, how they were able to support still MS – was the patient negative for neuromyelitis optica (NMO) antibody and was magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) spine negative for longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis signal? So, what are the supportive features for and against NMO spectrum disorder for that patient? Also, how did they differentiate ADEM from MS clinically and radiologically? They have noted abnormal MRI brain in 26/40 children, but quoted as 25% of focal demyelinating lesions in Table 2 – how does this tally! Please clarify.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References | | |
1. | Khadse R, Ravindran M, Pawar N, Maharajan P, Rengappa R. Clinical profile and neuroimaging in pediatric optic neuritis in Indian population: A case series. Indian J Ophthalmol 2017;65:242-5. [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
2. | Pérez-Cambrodí RJ, Gómez-Hurtado Cubillana A, Merino-Suárez ML, Piñero-Llorens DP, Laria-Ochaita C. Optic neuritis in pediatric population: A review in current tendencies of diagnosis and management. J Optom 2014;7:125-30. |
3. | Koelman DL, Mateen FJ. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis: Current controversies in diagnosis and outcome. J Neurol 2015;262:2013-24. |
4. | Alper G, Heyman R, Wang L. Multiple sclerosis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis diagnosed in children after long-term follow-up: Comparison of presenting features. Dev Med Child Neurol 2009;51:480-6. [ PUBMED] |
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