Neuromyelitis Optica (nmo); A case report

Devic’s disease or syndrome also known as Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) which is a demyelinating central nervous system (immune-mediated) ailment that predominantly targets the optic nerves and spinal cord. NMO-IgG seropositivity & longitudinally extensive spinal-cord lesions typically represents the Devic’s disease & differentiates it from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).Treatment for NMO is based upon its presentation such as for acute phase(steroids, IVIG etc), prevention of relapse (steroid sparing immunosuppression etc) and symptom based therapy (e.g spasticity etc). Here, we present a case of NMO in a young female (26 years old), married patient who presented to us with total vision loss, urinary & fecal incontinence & paraplegia. She was being treated as a case of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) several years ago but we further investigated & found NMO-IgG seropositivity and other findings in the history that conforms the diagnostic criteria of NMOSD for this patient. Furthermore, the patient was treated with IV glucocorticoids for its acute phase of disease & sent home when symptoms of transverse myelitis improved.