Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) was first described as a severe monophasic syndrome of acute bilateral optic neuritis and transverse myelitis. Whether it is a form of multiple sclerosis (MS) or a separate disease entity has been continually debated since the beginning of last century. The redefinition of NMO as a relapsing disease, the wider use of magnetic resonance imaging showing longer spinal co...

BACKGROUND Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory disease with combined features of optic neuritis and myelitis. This pathologic entity may induce severe disability, including visual loss and paraplegia. Other than clinical follow-up, there is no marker for severity of the disease. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in NMO and to determine whether this...

BACKGROUND Differences in cytokine/chemokine profiles among patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO), relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), and primary progressive MS (PPMS), and the relationships of these profiles with clinical and neuroimaging features are unclear. A greater understanding of these profiles may help in differential diagnosis. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We measured 2...

Recurrent myelitis is one of the predominant characteristics in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO). While paresis, visual loss, sensory deficits, and bladder dysfunction are well known symptoms in NMO patients, pain has been recognized only recently as another key symptom of the disease. Although spinal cord inflammation is a defining aspect of neuromyelitis, there is an almost complete l...

BACKGROUND The presence of antibodies to aquaporin-4 (AQP4) has been identified as a key characteristic of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), an autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating central nervous system (CNS) disorder. We evaluated the performance of a cell-based indirect immunofluorescence assay (CIIFA) for detecting AQP4 antibodies using antigen prepared with a recombinant AQP...

Movement disorders secondary to intrinsic spinal cord disease are rare. Paroxysmal chorea has not yet been reported in the neuromyelitis optica (NMO). We report a 43-year-old woman with relapsing-remitting cervical myelopathy who developed paroxysmal chorea during clinical exacerbation of NMO. MRI scan of the cervical spine revealed a long segmental enhancing lesion, but brain MRI did not show ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system with a relapsing and remitting course. We aimed to identify factors associated with the time to next attack, including the effect of the natural disease course and the diverse treatment regimens, by applying a longitudinal statistical analysis to the individual attacks of ...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to demonstrate whether the pattern of optic nerve enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help to differentiate between idiopathic optic neuritis (ON), neuromyelitis optica (NMO), and multiple sclerosis (MS) in unilateral ON. METHODS An MRI of the brain and orbits was obtained in patients with acute unilateral ON. Patients with ON were divided...

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by autoantibodies (NMO-IgG) against the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4). Though AQP4 is also expressed outside the CNS, for example in skeletal muscle, patients with NMO generally do not show clinical/diagnostic evidence of skeletal muscle damage. Here, we have evaluated whether AQP4 su...

BACKGROUND Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is the first inflammatory autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system for which a specific antigenic target has been identified; the marker autoantibody NMO-IgG specifically recognizes the astrocytic water channel aquaporin 4. Current evidence strongly suggests that NMO-IgG may be pathogenic. Since disability accrues incrementally related...