LAUSR

AIMS To analyze the incidence of optic neuritis (ON) in South Korean children and adolescent according to age, gender, etiological underlying disease, and season. METHODS Population-based nationwide database of Korean health insurance review and assessment was used to identify subjects aged 1 year or older but younger than 19 years with diagnosis with ON during the study period (2011-2017). RESULTS The total number of incident ON cases was 740 (398 females and 342 males) in the South Korean pediatric population during our seven-year study period. Mean annual incidence of ON was 1.04 per 100,000 people (1.17 vs. 0.92 for female vs. male subjects). Average female/male ratio of pediatric ON was 1.27:1. Cumulative incidence of ON was 7.28 per 100,000 from 2011 to 2017. Majority (87%) of patients had no underlying etiological disease, and 10.41% of patients had infectious disease before the diagnosis of ON. The most common etiology of infectious disease was meningitis (24.68%). Incidence rate increased with age (p = .002, p = .006, and p < .0001 for total, males, and females, respectively). The incidence of ON in spring was higher than that in autumn (173 vs. 133 cases respectively, p = .02). CONCLUSIONS We presented the incidence of children and adolescent ON in South Korea. Infectious disease was the most common underlying etiological disease. Incidence of ON increased with age and it showed seasonal variation in South Korean children and adolescents.