Cerebrospinal fluid antibodies to aquaporin-4 in neuromyelitis optica and related disorders: frequency, origin, and diagnostic relevance

Table 1 Epidemiological data and sample numbers.

	Number of patients	Caucasian	Sex ratio, male: female	Relapsing course	Paired CSF/serum samples	Median age at LP (range)	Untreated at time of LP (%)
Total	79	72/79 (91)	1:4.6	59/79 (75)	87	40 (15-72)	56/80 (70)
NMOSD	37	32/37 (87)	1:17.5	33/37 (89)	45	41 (17-72)	19/40 (48)†
Controls	42	40/42 (95)	1:2.8	26/42 (62)	42	39 (15-70)	37/40 (93)‡
MS	28	26/28 (92)	1:2.1	26/28 (93)	28	38 (15-69)	2/27
OND	14	14/14 (100)	1:3.7	0/14 (0)	14	45 (20-70)	1/13

Diagnoses in the MS group included relapsing-remitting MS in 26; secondary progressive MS in 1; and primary progressive MS in 1. Diagnoses in the OND group included acute demyelinating encephalomyelitis in 4; non-longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis in 1; brain stem encephalitis of unknown aetiology in 1; autoimmune cerebellitis in 1; Herpes simplex virus encephalitis in 1; CNS lymphoma in 1; primary angiitis of the CNS in 1; Behçet's disease in 1; benign paroxysmal positional vertigo in 1; hydrocephalus aresorptivus in 1; and spinal disc prolaps in 1. NMO was diagnosed according to reference [39]. LETM was defined as myelitis extending over three or more segments as demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging. MS was diagnosed according to reference [40]. † Treatments in the remaining cases included oral steroids, intravenous methylprednisolone, azathioprine, methotrexate, and cyclo-phosphamide; in 5 cases no exact data on the treatment status at time of LP were available. ‡ In 2 cases, no exact data on the treatment status was available. LETM = longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis; MS = multiple sclerosis; NMO = neuromyelitis optica; n.d. = not determined; NMOSD = neuromyelitis spectrum disorders; ON = optic neuritis; OND = other neurological diseases

ISSN: 1742-2094