Clinical, Paraclinical and Imaging Characterization of a Population of Colombian Patients with Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder at the Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) is an inflammatory syndrome of the central nervous system, different from multiple sclerosis, that is associated with aquaporin-4 IgG antibodies (AQP4-IgG). The new nomenclature defines a unified term of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder (NMOSD), seropositive or seronegative according to the AQP4-IgG positivity. OBJECTIVES:Demographic, clinical, imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytochemistry characterization of patients diagnosed with NMOSD at the Hospital Universitario San Ignacio (HUSI), Bogotá, Colombia, during 2006-2017. METHODS:A descriptive observational longitudinal study of patients diagnosed with NMO according to the International consensus diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders 2015 evaluated in HUSI during 2006-2017. An analysis of quantitative variables was performed with mean, standard deviation, median and interquartile range (IQR), and of qualitative variables with absolute numbers and percentages. A Wilcoxon sign-rank sum test was performed for paired data to evaluate the correlation between visual acuity (VA) and EDSS disability scale at admission and discharge after treatment. RESULTS:Data was collected for 37 patients. The mean age was 42 years-old. The form of presentation was optic neuritis (ON) in 81.1% of the cases. In patients who presented as ON, it was typical in 21.6%, atypical in 43.2% and bilateral in 18.9% of them. An average of 4.6 plasmapheresis (PPH) were performed; at discharge 45.9% presented a visual acuity (VA) lower than 20/800. The mean Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) on admission was 2.8 (SD 1,4) and 2.2 (SD: 1,4). at discharge. CONCLUSION:Colombian NMOSD patients have shown an increasingly frequent phenotype variability Including a higher proportion of patients with bilateral optic neuritis, smaller number of patients with oligoclonal bands pattern II and with typical lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) in MRI with seropositive NMO and a greater number of cases debuting with partial segment partial myelitis.