Severe Simultaneous Bilateral Optic Neuritis as a Rare Clinical Manifestation in a Case of Multiple Sclerosis Presented with Acute Bilateral Vision Loss in the Emergency Department

Document Type : Case Report/Series

Authors

1 Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran

2 Innovated Medical Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad Islamic Azad University of Medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran

3 Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Background: Ophthalmological emergencies typically present with symptoms such as visual loss, diplopia, ocular motility impairment, or anisocoria. Acute vision loss is a frightening manifestation for both patients and physicians which can occur as one or both eyes involvement. It is a common manifestation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and the most common cause is optic neuritis (ON). ON is almost always unilateral in subjects with MS and simultaneous bilateral ON has been rarely reported.
 
Case Presentation: Here, we report a case of a female patient with a history of MS, who presented with simultaneous bilateral and progressive vision loss. ON in this patient did not respond dramatically to high doses of intravenous methylprednisolone. So, she received intravenous humanized monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody therapy (Ocrelizumab).
 
Conclusion: This report aims to introduce a very rare case, with regard to the key points for evaluating patients with acute visual loss in the emergency department.

Keywords


Acknowledgment: We would like to thank all personnel for their support and cooperation especially those involved in the emergency room.

 

Availability of data and materials: The data supporting the findings of this case report are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

 

Conflicts of interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the present case report. The authors confirm that neither the manuscript nor its main contents have already been published or submitted for consideration for publication in another journal.

 

Consent for publication: Written informed consent for publication of this case report has been obtained from the patient.

 

Ethics approval and consent to participate: This case report was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the ethics committee. Given the nature of a case report and the use of anonymized patient data, formal ethical approval was waived or deemed unnecessary by the relevant ethics committee. Informed consent for participation was obtained from the patient.

Financial disclosure: No financial support was received for this study

 

Author contributions: Each author has made substantial contributions to the final manuscript version have approved the submitted version and have agreed both to be personally accountable for the author's own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work.

 

Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

1. sen Tanrikulu C, Hocagil H, Kaya U, Hocagil AC. Acute bilateral vision loss in emergency department: A case report. Turkish Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2016;16(1):38-40.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjem.2014.12.001
PMid:27239639 PMCid:PMC4882198
 
2. Haki M, Al-Biati HA, Al-Tameemi ZS, Ali IS, Al-Hussaniy HA. Review of multiple sclerosis: Epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment. Medicine. 2024;103(8):e37297.
https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000037297
PMid:38394496 PMCid:PMC10883637
 
3. Lorenzut S, Negro ID, Pauletto G, Verriello L, Spadea L, Salati C, et al. Exploring the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment options of multiple sclerosis. Journal of Integrative Neuroscience. 2025;24(1):1-14.
https://doi.org/10.31083/JIN25081
PMid:39862004
 
4. Ford H. Clinical presentation and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Clinical Medicine. 2020;20(4):380.
https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmed.2020-0292
PMid:32675142 PMCid:PMC7385797
 
5. Khetpal A, Kumar R, Khetpal N. Severe Bilateral Optic Neuritis: A Rare Presentation of Clinically Isolated Syndrome. Cureus. 2020;12(10).
https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.11135
 
6. Ducloyer J-B, Marignier R, Wiertlewski S, Lebranchu P. Optic neuritis classification in 2021. European journal of ophthalmology. 2022;32(2):754-66.
https://doi.org/10.1177/11206721211028050
PMid:34218696
 
7. da Cruz Escaleira ALR, Kalogeropoulos D, Kalogeropoulos C, Ch'Ng SW, Sung VC, Asproudis I, et al. Four common diseases causing sudden blindness or death in the eye emergency department. Postgraduate Medical Journal. 2021;97(1146):256-63.
https://doi.org/10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138163
PMid:32788313
 
8. Spiegel SJ, Moss HE. Neuro-Ophthalmic Emergencies. Neurologic Clinics. 2021;39(2):631-47.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncl.2021.01.004
PMid:33896536 PMCid:PMC8081067
 
9. Klineova S, Lublin FD. Clinical course of multiple sclerosis. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine. 2018;8(9):a028928.
https://doi.org/10.1101/cshperspect.a028928
PMid:29358317 PMCid:PMC6120692
 
10. Angelini G, Bani A, Constantin G, Rossi B. The interplay between T helper cells and brain barriers in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience. 2023;17:1101379.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2023.1101379
PMid:36874213 PMCid:PMC9975172
 
11. Lazibat I, Rubinić-Majdak M, Županić S. Multiple sclerosis: new aspects of immunopathogenesis. Acta Clinica Croatica. 2018;57(2):352.
https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2018.57.02.17
PMid:30431730 PMCid:PMC6532002
 
12. Ghasemi N, Razavi S, Nikzad E. Multiple sclerosis: pathogenesis, symptoms, diagnoses and cell-based therapy. Cell Journal (Yakhteh). 2017;19(1):1.
 
13. Guier C, Kaur K, Stokkermans T. Optic neuritis. StatPearls. 2025.
 
14. Eggenberger E. Optic neuritis. CONTINUUM: Lifelong Learning in Neurology. 2025;31(2):407-35.
https://doi.org/10.1212/CON.0000000000001560
PMid:40179402
 
15. Ciapă MA, Șalaru DL, Stătescu C, Sascău RA, Bogdănici CM. Optic neuritis in multiple sclerosis-a review of molecular mechanisms involved in the degenerative process. Current issues in molecular biology. 2022;44(9):3959-79.
https://doi.org/10.3390/cimb44090272
PMid:36135184 PMCid:PMC9497878
 
16. Kale N. Optic neuritis as an early sign of multiple sclerosis. Eye and brain. 2016:195-202.
https://doi.org/10.2147/EB.S54131
PMid:28539814 PMCid:PMC5398757
 
17. Kraker JA, Chen JJ. An update on optic neuritis. Journal of Neurology. 2023;270(10):5113-26.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-023-11920-x
PMid:37542657
 
18. García‐Estrada C, Gómez‐Figueroa E, Alban L, Arias‐Cárdenas A. Optic neuritis after COVID‐19 vaccine application. Clinical and Experimental Neuroimmunology. 2022;13(2):72-4.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cen3.12682
PMid:34900001 PMCid:PMC8653244
 
19. Hickman SJ, Petzold A. Update on optic neuritis: an international view. Neuro-Ophthalmology. 2022;46(1):1-18.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01658107.2021.1964541
PMid:35095131 PMCid:PMC8794242
 
20. Bennett JL, Costello F, Chen JJ, Petzold A, Biousse V, Newman NJ, et al. Optic neuritis and autoimmune optic neuropathies: advances in diagnosis and treatment. The Lancet Neurology. 2023;22(1):89-100.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(22)00187-9
PMid:36155661
 
21. Montalban X, Hauser SL, Kappos L, Arnold DL, Bar-Or A, Comi G, et al. Ocrelizumab versus placebo in primary progressive multiple sclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine. 2017;376(3):209-20.
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1606468
PMid:28002688
 
22. McCool R, Wilson K, Arber M, Fleetwood K, Toupin S, Thom H, et al. Systematic review and network meta-analysis comparing ocrelizumab with other treatments for relapsing multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis and related disorders. 2019;29:55-61.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msard.2018.12.040
PMid:30677733