Corticosteroids do not prevent optic nerve atrophy following optic neuritis

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Abstract
The design, conduct and clinical results of the trial have been reported previously.7 Briefly, 66 patients with a first episode of acute unilateral optic neuritis within 30 days of onset were enrolled into the study. The median duration of symptoms before randomisation was eight days (range 1–30). Six of the patients had clinically definite MS, another 14 had clinically probable MS, and the rest had clinically isolated optic neuritis. Their optic nerves were imaged with a short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequence (TR 2500 ms, TE 40 ms, TI 175 ms, matrix 256×128, field of view 16 cm × 16 cm, 2 excitations, 5 mm contiguous slices) and were then randomised to receive either 1 g/day IVMP for three days or intravenous saline. Reimaging was performed six months later. In addition, at six months, a detailed clinical assessment was performed including Snellen visual acuity, contrast sensitivity using the Pelli-Robson chart, 30-2 Humphrey visual field examination, and colour vision using the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 (FM 100) Hue test. Normal values were taken to be a visual acuity of 6/6 or better, contrast sensitivity of 1.65 or better, Humphrey mean deviation of −3 dB or higher, and the total error score of the FM 100 of less than 110.8, 9 Whole field and central field pattern evoked visual evoked potentials (VEP) were also recorded.

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