Clinical, demographic characteristics, and treatment protocols of optic neuropathies: Three-year follow-up experiences from a tertiary hospital in Turkey

Abstract

Background: This study was conducted to review the demographic and clinical characteristics, treatment protocols, and visual outcomes of patients with optic neuropathy. Methods: This historical cohort study analyzed the clinical features of 91 patients with optic neuropathy followed up for three years at a university hospital in Turkey. Results: Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION) was the most common group among the optic neuropathy subgroups (47.2%), and optic neuritis (ON) was the second most common group (38.5%). The mean age of symptom onset for NA-AION was 64.97 ± 12.15 years, significantly higher than the mean age of onset for ON (40.28 ± 15.52 years). Most of the patients with NA-AION had at leasone systemic disease causing microangiopathy [51.1% had diabetes mellitus (DM), 33.3% had hypertension (HTN)]. Among the patients with ON51.4% were idiopathic, and 25.7% were multiple sclerosis (MS)-related ON cases. Patients with ischemic optic neuropathy (ION), ON, and traumatic optic neuropathy received pulse intravenous (IVcorticosteroids, and eleven patients with NA-AION received acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) therapy in addition to corticosteroids. There was a statistically significanincrease in visual acuity in NA-AION and ON groups (P = 0.019). It was observed that the cases of ON peaked in the winter months in Turkey.