Tapering Oral Steroid Treatment After IV Methylprednisolone Pulse Therapy in Demyelinating Optic Neuritis

Optic neuritis is an inflammation of the optic nerve. Because of importance of vision for human, management of optic neuritis is an important issue in neurology.
This study aimed at assessing the effect of oral steroid treatment after intravenous (IV) methylprednisolone therapy on demyelinating optic neuritis.
60 Patients with first episode of acute demyelinating optic neuritis who referred to a neurology clinic in an academic hospital in south-west of Iran in 2015-2016 included in this randomized double-blind clinical trial study (No: IRCT2015102724735N1). They were divided into two groups with (A) and without (B) tapering oral steroid treatment after IV methylprednisolone. Visual acuity and color vision were measured before treatment, before oral tapering, 1 and 3 months after treatment. Independent t-test in SPSS software version 20 was used to analyze the data. P Visual acuity in two groups did not have any significant difference in any time point of assessment (P>0.05).Frequency of color vision abnormality in groups A and B were at baseline (53.3% vs. 56.6%) (P=0.796), before oral tapering (43.3% vs. 30%, P=0.284), 1 month after treatment (23.3% vs. 30%, P=0.559), 3 months after treatment (0% vs. 23%, P=0.011).
Oral steroid treatment after IV methylprednisolone pulse therapy improves color vision after 3 months in patients with demyelinating optic neuritis but has no effect on visual acuity.