SETTING: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), or Devic’s disease, is a rare acute inflammatory disease characterised by demyelination affecting the spinal cord and optic nerves.
Background: The burden of multiple sclerosis (MS) includes fatigue, depression and worsening of health-related quality of life (HRQOL).
The detection of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) led to a breakthrough in diagnosing NMO. To date, different assays to detect these antibodies are available.
The antibody suspension bead array technology has been shown to be highly applicable for discovery of potential biomarkers in blood derived samples [1]. For analysis in neurodegenerative disorders like multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is another highly interesting body fluid for protein profiling efforts [2].
Backgrounds: The distinction between neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS) has long been a debate in Asia. The most specific finding for NMO is a longitudinally extensive, central cord lesion on MRI in the setting of myelitis (LETM), which is very rare in MS. The MRI criterion for LETM (contiguous spinal cord lesion 3 or more segments in length) is crucial.
OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we examined some demographic and clinical features of Turkish LDDD patients and we compared these features with Turkish conventional MS patients, on the basis of demographic, clinical and immunological features. BACKGROUND: So called limited disseminated demyelinating diseases (LDDDs) includes optic neuritis (ON), transverse myelitis (TM), optic-spinal multiple sclerosis (OSMS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). OSMS and NMO select the involvement of optic nerve and spinal cord more than conventional multiple sclerosis (CMS)
Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an uncommon, life-threatening inflammatory demyelinating disorder.
OBJECTIVE: Resting-state brain activity in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) patients can give clues to the pathophysiology of the disorder, and may be helpful in diagnosis; however, it has been less explored using functional MRI (fMRI). In the current study, we used a regional homogeneity (ReHo) method to investigate NMO-related modulations of neural activity in the resting state. METHODS: Resting-state fMRIs acquired in 17 NMO patients as well as in 17 age- and sex-matched normal controls were compared.