Neuromyelitis Optica

Idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating central nervous system (CNS) diseases include the various clinical types of multiple sclerosis (MS), acute transverse myelitis (TM), optic neuritis (ON), recurrent forms of TM and ON, the Marburg variant of MS, Balo’s concentric sclerosis, and neuromyelitis optica (NMO; Devic’s syndrome or Devic’s disease) (1). The association of spinal cord disease and visual impairment was first recognized in 1870 by Allbutt (2). In 1894, Devic reported a case of bilateral ON and myelitis occurring in rapid succession, leading to the eponymous designation of Devic neuromyelitis optica (3). Stansbury’s extensive 1949 review influenced the clinical concept of NMO; thereafter, the term was typically applied to patients with a monophasic disorder consisting of acute or subacute, usually bilateral, ON occurring in close temporal association with severe myelitis (4–7).