Neuromyelitis Optica

Inflammatory Demyelinating Disease of the CNS

• Severe Optic Neuritis
• Extensive transverse myelitis
• Recurrent course
• Decreased vision, visual acuity, and visual fields
• Possible blindness
• Muscle weakness
• Reduced sensation
• Spastic paraparesis or quadriparesis
• Loss of sphincter control

The specific serological marker for NMO is anti-APQ4

Anti-aquaporin-4 (anti-APQ4) antibodies

• Specificity up to about 99%
• Present in most patients with NMO (61–98%)
• Titers correlate with the extent of lesions
• A positive result is usually present at the onset of the disease
• A negative result does not rule out the diagnosis
• They allow for the differential diagnosis of NMO with a poor prognosis from classic MS (a separate entity)

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