+44 7480725689Sofia Bezerra
Post-Graduation Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Portugal
ScientificTracks Abstracts: Neurosci
Introduction: Corticosteroids have been widely used in the treatment of optic neuritis (ON),and subsequent studies have further clarified its impact in the treatment of acute ON.However,patients with severe visual loss because of ON refractory to high dose corticosteroids have limited therapeutic options.The use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been advocated in the past, but data are scarce. We propose to review patients with corticosteroid-refractory optic neuropathy who were treated with IVIG,and evaluate their impact on functional ability,quality of life and visual acuity (VA) recovery after 12 months follow-up. Methods: We reviewed retrospectively all patients who received IVIG among the series of recurrent ON cases admitted to the ward of our Neurology Department, between January 2004 and June 2020.All patients had previously been treated with high doses of intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) for exacerbations of ON,and are currently on follow-up with our center.Main exclusion criteria were pre-existing ocular abnormalities that might affect assessment of visual function. Sixteen patients were included in the study,with visual acuity 3/10 or worse in the affected eye reported before IVIG,measured with Snellenâ�?�?s chart.Furthermore, in order to evaluate the impact on functional ability and quality of life we have applied The National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25(NEIVFQ-25) with neuro-ophthalmic module. Results: Sixteen patients were included in the study,out of these 6 Idiopathic ON;3 Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder;4 Multiple Sclerosis related-ON;2 Ischemic ON and 1 Beh�?§et ON.The mean improvement of visual acuity of the affected eye between admission and 12 months follow-up after IVIG therapy was from 0.1 to 0.4/1.0 (pvalue 0.12).The mean composite score of the NEI VFQ-25 with Neuro 10 from all participants was 62.7(18.3) at mean follow-up period of 54.3 months.The most impacted scale score was colour vision at 89.9 (17.9), followed by distance activities at 75.8(15.5),peripheral vision at 74.9(16.2),visionspecific dependency at 67.7 (18.3) and near activities at 67.0 (18.7). Conclusion: Although this is a retrospective study with a limited number of cases, our data suggests that IVIG therapy can improve the VA in 12- month follow-up. Considering this therapy might have important implications in clinical practice, further research and randomized controlled trials with IVIG are needed in order to validate our results.
Sofia Bezerra is Medical Doctor, graduated at School of Medicine of Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre/Brazil. She has multicultural background, and values highly a good medical practice and integrative research. Her career reflects the multidisciplinary curriculum that has characterized her academic and experimental profile, having studied in Germany and UK. In 2016, she has applied for the Equivalence of Academic Degree at School of Medicine of University of Lisbon, Portugal, which has been successfully completed. Currently, she is at International Doctoral Program in Neuroscience, in Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, as researcher and collaborator and under supervision of Professor Doctor Joana Guimarães, with main interest in Optic Neuropathies. Her project aims to provide objective biomarkers that could be used to predict the treatment and its response.
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