PURPOSE Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a rare autoimmune condition characterised by acute relapses of optic neuritis and extensive transverse myelitis. The aim of this qualitative study was to develop an improved understanding of the experiences of people living with NMO. METHOD Fifteen participants completed a semi-structured interview and data were interpreted using a constant comparative me...

T he pathogenic relationship between neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS) continues to be debated despite mounting evidence that these are distinct entities. The NMO-IgG, which targets the water channel protein aquaporin-4 (AQP4), is the first confirmed serum biomarker for any form of central nervous system inflammatory demyelinating disease and reliably distinguishes NMO from...

BACKGROUND Myasthenia gravis (MG) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO, also known as Devic disease) are rare autoimmune disorders, with upper-limit prevalence estimates in the general population of 15 per 100,000 and 5 per 100,000, respectively. To our knowledge, an association between these diseases has not been previously reported. OBJECTIVES To describe 4 patients with MG who developed NMO after...

The comparative clinical and demographic features of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) are not well known. In this review we analyzed peer-reviewed publications for incidence and prevalence, clinical phenotypes, and demographic features of NMO. Population-based studies from Europe, South East and Southern Asia, the Caribbean, and Cuba suggest that the incidence and prevalence of NMO ranges from 0.05-0...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO, also known as Devic’s syndrome) is a demyelinating disease of the central nervous system characterized by recurrent optic neuritis and acute transverse myelitis. The disease was initially considered a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, recent literature had suggested that NMO is a distinct disease from MS, with poorer prognosis and different therapy. Therefo...

Diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica (NMO) state that there should be no active disease outside the optic nerves and spinal cord. However, several cases have been described with symptomatic brain involvement. We describe an autopsy case of a patient with NMO and symptomatic involvement of the brain. The histopathology of the brain lesions is typical for NMO, with extensive macrophage in...

T he effect of immunosuppression with corticosteroids, azathioprine, mycophenolate, or rituximab for preventing relapses in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) has been demonstrated in case series and retrospective studies. These drugs are currently considered the mainstay treatment for preventing neurologic worsening in NMO. Herein, we describe our experience with pulse cyclophosphamide f...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by severe optic neuritis (ON) and acute myelitis (AM). NMO differs in many respects from multiple sclerosis (MS). NMO-IgG is an autoantibody exclusively detected in the sera of NMO, and is directed against aquaporin-4 (AQP4), a water channel richly expressed on astrocytes in the CNS. In most ...

UNLABELLED Although neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is known to be a more severe disease than relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), few studies comparing both conditions in a single center have been done. METHODS Comparison of our previously published cohort of 41 NMO patients with 177 RRMS patients followed in the same center, from 1994 to 2007. RESULTS Mean age of onset was 32.6 for N...

OBJECTIVES To examine anti-KIR4.1 antibodies by 2 different assays in Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) or neuromyelitis optica (NMO). METHODS One hundred sixty serum samples from 57 patients with MS, 40 patients with NMO/NMO spectrum disorder (NMOSD), and 50 healthy controls (all were Japanese) were tested with ELISA using a synthetic peptide of the first extracellular portion o...