Vol. 44 No. 1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE PDF

Landmark Studies in Neuro-Ophthalmology

Franz Marie Cruz, MD^1,2,3 and Prem S. Subramanian, MD PhD ^4,5,6

¹ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Sentro Oftalmologico Jose Rizal,
University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines

² Eye Institute, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City, Philippines

³ Peregrine Eye and Laser Institute, Makati City, Philippines

⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine,
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA

⁵ Department of Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA

⁶ Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interests.

ABSTRACT

High-quality clinical evidence, derived from well-designed and implemented clinical trials, serves to advance clinical care and to allow physicians to provide the most effective treatments to their patients. The field of ophthalmology, including the subspecialty of neuro-ophthalmology, abounds with such high-quality clinical trials that provide Level 1 clinical evidence. This review article summarizes the research design, key findings, and clinical relevance of select monumental clinical studies in neuro-ophthalmology with the primary goal of providing the readers with the rationale for current standard of care of various neuro-ophthalmic diseases. This includes the Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial, Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Decompression Trial, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Treatment Trial, Rescue of Hereditary Optic Disease Outpatient Study, and Controlled High-Risk Avonex® Multiple Sclerosis Study.

Keywords: Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial, Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Decompression Trial, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Treatment Trial, Rescue of Hereditary Optic Disease Outpatient Study, and Controlled High-Risk Avonex® Multiple Sclerosis Study