Walsh & Hoyt: Optic Neuritis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Other Vasculitides

Patients with SLE, polyarteritis nodosa, and other vasculitidescan experience an attack of what seems clinically to be typical acute optic neuritis. This phenomenon occurs in about 1% of patients with SLE. In rare cases, the optic neuropathy is the presenting sign of the disease. The pathogenesis is not a true infection or inflammation of the nerve tissue itself but is relatedto ischemia, which may produce demyelination alone, axonal necrosis, or a combination of the two.