Additive Effect of Erythropoietin on Conventional Treatment of Methanol Induced Toxic Optic Neuropathy

To investigate the effect of intravenous erythropoietin (EPO) in adjunction to intravenous steroid and conventional treatment protocol in patients with MTON.
In this non-randomized prospective interventional comparative case series, eleven patients diagnosed with MTON, received intravenous EPO (10000 IU twice a day) for 3 days combined with intravenous methylprednisolone (500 mg twice a day for 5 days) followed by oral prednisolone 1mg/kg for two weeks, and vitamin B12, B6 and folic acid (EPO group). These patients were compared with a historical control group who had received similar treatment except EPO. Our main outcome measures were Best-Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA), Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness (PRNFLT), and visual field Mean Deviation (MD).
Patients in both groups had better final BCVA at the third month. Mean BCVA improved significantly from 2.93±0.55 to 1.75±1.16 LogMAR at month 3 (p Intravenous EPO in combination with systemic steroid appears to be an effective treatment in patients with MTON. This combinational therapy may supplement additional benefits to the systemic steroid regimen.