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Clinical presentations, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of optic neuritis of different etiology are reviewed. This symptom is concomitant with the development of multiple sclerosis in about 30% cases and accompanies the disease in 75% patients. Acute or subacute lesion of the optic nerve can be a symptom of optic myelitis, Leber's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, Susac's syndrome, idiopathic retinal vasculitis, sarcoidosis and some other diseases. Clinical features and course of optic neuritis in these diseases are discussed.

The paper deals with the diagnosis of optic nerve atrophy caused by temporal giant-cell arteritis (Horton's disease) and shows how difficult to make a differential diagnosis between glaucoma and other non-eye diseases that also induce optic nerve atrophy. It describes a clinical case that illustrates the difficulties in diagnosing optic nerve involvement in Horton's disease.

Presented in the paper are data of a comparative analysis of efficiency of different methods of administration of drugs in neuritis and partial atrophy of the optic nerve. New techniques of application and fixation of irrigation systems in the retrobulbar and Tenon's space are described. Experimental and clinical data proving advantages of the new method of administration of drugs by an automatic pulse doser in the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the optic nerve are represented. The use of such intensive intermittent technique of administration of drugs in Tenon's space performed at the preliminary stage before electrostimulation of the optic nerve made the procedure by far more effective and ensured better treatment results.

The possibility of using ultrasonic scanning in differential diagnosis of optic neuritis (ON) and anterior ischemic neuropathy (AIN) and the prognostic significance of the results were evaluated. The thickness of retrobulbar part of the optic nerve directly behind the eye was measured by echographic B method in patients with ON and AIN. The thickness of the retrobulbar part of the involved and paired optic nerve was more than 0.7 mm in 90% patients with ON, which can be considered as an additional clinical sign of ON. Thickening of the retrobulbar part of the optic nerve is not characteristic of AIN. In patients with disseminated sclerosis ON is associated with less pronounced thickening of the retrobulbar part of the optic nerve than in idiopathic ON, which agrees with the pathogenesis and pathomorphology of disseminated sclerosis. The degree of optic nerve thickening in ON in patients with disseminated sclerosis is prognostically insignificant, while in idiopathic ON more than 2 mm asymmetry of the retrobulbar part of the involved and paired optic nerve is a sign predicting a long course of the disease and maybe incomplete recovery of vision. Thickening of the involved optic nerve by less than 1.7 mm is associated with a better prognosis as regards the time and completeness of vision restoration.

Biological fluids from 146 patients with retrobulbar neuritis were examined for the biochemical, immunochemical and immunologic characteristics that mirror destructive processes in myelin and changes in the system of the cholinoglycine cycle which is one of the stages of the synthesis of myelin in the oligodendrocyte. In the majority of observations, the changes in these reactions of different directions and of varying intensity were revealed. Based on the data obtained the conclusion is made that part of the patients with retrobulbar neuritis may be attributed to multiple sclerosis since according to the laboratory findings, the demyelinating process occurring in them goes beyond optic nerves. Besides, it has been shown with special reference to retrobulbar neuritis that the primary affect, possibly of the viral nature, is likely to be localized in the oligodendrocyte, with myelin being involved in the process for the second time.

Modelling of generalized herpetic infection of Guinea pigs is described. It took the course in the form of acute or subacute recurring process with either involvement of separate internal organs, or disseminated involvement of all visceral organs, or principal involvement of subcortical structures of the brain, or involvement of the brain and spinal marrow and marked vegetative failures. Signs of vasculitis; development of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) syndrome and CNS demyelinization are detected in animals during the terminal period.