CRANIAL MRI IN IDIOPATHIC RETINAL VASCULITIS

Ten patients with clinically isolated idiopathic retinal vasculitis wh o had a positive family history for multiple sclerosis (MS) or positiv e typing for HLA B7 underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brai n and optic nerves in order to establish the frequency of clinically s ilent lesions. Brain MRI was normal in seven and abnormal in three: on e had a single small white matter lesion, two had extensive white matt er abnormalities resembling those seen in MS. In two patients a lesion was shown in the optic nerve, These findings suggest that a minority of patients with idiopathic retinal vasculitis have disseminated centr al nervous system lesions characteristic of MS, the frequency of such changes being less than in patients with isolated optic neuritis.