Benign neuromyelitis optica is rare in Japanese patients

Akiyuki Uzawa; Masahiro Mori; Mayumi Muto; Tomohiko Uchida; Hiroki Masuda; Saeko Masuda; Satoshi Kuwabara

doi:10.1177/1352458514560927

Benign neuromyelitis optica is rare in Japanese patients

Mult Scler. 2015 Aug;21(9):1204-8. doi: 10.1177/1352458514560927. Epub 2014 Dec 5.

Authors

Akiyuki Uzawa¹, Masahiro Mori², Mayumi Muto², Tomohiko Uchida², Hiroki Masuda², Saeko Masuda², Satoshi Kuwabara²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan auzawa@chiba-u.jp.
² Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.

PMID: 25480860
DOI: 10.1177/1352458514560927

Abstract

Good-outcome neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is defined as an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of ≤3.0 at 10 years after onset. The clinical courses of 80 consecutive patients with NMO were analyzed to identify the frequency and features of Japanese patients with good-outcome NMO. Of the 80 patients, 37 had a disease duration of >10 years; of these, eight (21.6%) presented a good outcome. These cases presented lower EDSS scores during the early phase of disease compared with those with conventional NMO. However, half of these patients developed severe disabilities later on, indicating that truly benign NMO is rare.

Keywords: Benign; Expanded Disability Status Scale; good outcome; neuromyelitis optica.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Asian People
Cohort Studies
Disability Evaluation
Disease Progression
Female
Humans
Middle Aged
Neuromyelitis Optica*
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies