Treatment of acute optic neuritis: a summary of findings from the optic neuritis treatment trial.

inconclusive because of small sample size. In the 1980s, the Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial was developed to evaluate corticosteroid treatment for optic neuritis. This multicenter randomized clinical trial, supported by the National Eye Institute, was designed to answer the following questions: (1) Does treatment with either oral prednisone or intravenous methylprednisolone followed by oral prednisone improve the visual outcome of acute optic neuritis? (2) Does either treatment speed recovery of vision? and (3) Are the complications of treatment insignificant in relation to the magnitude of the treatment effect? Long-term follow-up of the cohort was performed to investigate the relationship between optic neuritis and the development of multiple sclerosis (MS).