NMO-IgG in the diagnosis of neuromyelitis optica

Abstract

We studied 36 unselected patients with NMO (33 relapsing, three monophasic). All patients met the 1999 criteria of Wingerchuk et al.³ Spinal cord lesions in three or more segments were present in 35 of 36. Median follow-up from onset was 38 months. In addition, we tested 80 patients with MS according to the revised McDonald criteria⁴ (71% relapsing-remitting, 20% secondary progressive, 9% primary progressive), five patients with longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis (LETM),^1,5 11 patients with non-LETM myelitis, 21 with miscellaneous neurologic disorders, and 25 healthy controls.