From the Mayo Clinic, on distinguishing NMO from MS

see: http://www.mayoclinic.org/devics-disease/about-devics.html

This article states,

In well-established cases of Devic's disease, it is usually possible to accurately distinguish it from MS. However, early in the course of these two conditions, it may be difficult to definitively separate these two conditions. The distinction is important to ensure the most appropriate treatment.

There are several important differences:

• Clinically, Devic's disease affects only the optic nerves and spinal cord, whereas MS affects the brain as well.
• Attacks of Devic's disease tend to be more frequent and severe than attacks of MS, though this is not always the case.
• An MRI of the brain is typically normal in Devics disease, although this is not always the case; in MS the MRI of the brain typically shows many areas of inflammation.
• An MRI of the spinal cord shows continuous extensive inflammation of the spinal cord whereas spinal cord inflammation in MS typically occurs in much smaller patches.
• Spinal fluid in Devic's disease usually lacks the typical elevation of antibodies detected in patients with MS, although occasional patients may show this abnormal pattern of antibodies.

The autoantibody NMO-IgG is specific for Devic's disease but is undetected in 30 percent of patients. "

Steve Ornburn 877 days ago

The August 4 entry in "Stu's Views and MS News," describes a recent study by Johns Hopkins researchers which optical coherence tomography is used as a diagnostic tool used to quantify the thickness of the optic nerve.  Nerve thickness can be used to determine whether optic neuritis occurs in the context of MS or NMO: the optic nerve seems to be less thick in people with NMO than people with MS.

The link to Stu's blog entry is >here<. The link to the Johns Hopkins article is >here<.

Steve Ornburn 877 days ago

Also in the news is a blood test that measures antibodies to aquaporin-4, detecting NMO this in about 70% of cases. As reported by the National MS Society, "this test may identify that a person has NMO even before he or she experiences all the symptoms that lead to a confident diagnosis."

See the short article from the National MS Society >here<

Steve Ornburn 877 days ago