Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is a relapsing inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, usually affecting the optic nerves and the spinal cord. It is presumed to be an antibody-mediated disorder and the target antigen is the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4) on astrocyte cell membranes. NMO is a disease caused by astrocyte disorder and is distinct from multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a p...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory and demyelinating syndrome characterized by severe attacks of myelitis and optic neuritis. A crucial role for humoral immunity in the NMO pathogenesis has been suggested by the detection of a highly specific serum autoantibody NMO immunoglobulin G that binds to aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channels, and the pronounced deposition of immunoglobulins coloc...

Background and objectives. Eugène Devic (1858-1930) made medical and neurological history in 1894 when he described neuromyelitis optica (NMO). This article describes how the concept of this disease has evolved over the centuries since being described by the well-known doctor from Lyon. Methods. To describe the history of NMO, we performed a literature search in PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Googl...

BACKGROUND Gender and age at onset are important epidemiological factors influencing prevalence, clinical presentation, and treatment response in autoimmune diseases. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of female sex and fertile age on aquaporin-4-antibody (AQP4-ab) status, attack localization, and response to attack treatment in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and its spectrum disorder...