FOLLOW-UP-STUDIES ON PATTERN-REVERSAL VISUALLY EVOKED CORTICAL POTENTIALS IN A 2-YEAR-OLD CHILD WITH OPTIC NEURITIS

A 2-year and 7-month-old boy had sudden visual loss in both eyes and s howed bilateral optic neuritis without systemic symptoms. Steroid ther apy improved his visual acuity from 0.077 and 0.053 to 1.0 at 7 months after onset. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed hig h density in both optic nerves and multiple lesions in the white matte r that were enhanced by gadolinium. We considered the diagnosis of dem yelinating disease. Follow-up MRI showed no abnormal lesion. Both tran sient and steady-state pattern visually evoked cortical potentials wer e nondetectable at the onset, and the P100 component of the transient pattern reversed visually evoked cortical potential appeared to be del ayed thereafter. It has since become shorter in parallel with visual a cuity improvement.