Patients with NMOSD who have non-immune-related comorbidities face unique challenges in their treatment. This study examined their demographics and risk factors.
Among patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), those with comorbidities may have unique clinical features, prognoses, and treatment outcomes. Comorbidities may affect various systems of the body, and this study, published in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, focuses specifically on non-immune system comorbidities. The study relied on retrospective data from all patients who met the 2015 NMOSD diagnostic criteria from the NMOSD database at one treatment center. Patients were divided into positive and negative groups based on the presence of non-immune disease comorbidities.
Patient data, clinical characteristics, treatment response, prognosis, and mortality between the two groups were compared. A total of 138 patients with NMOSD plus comorbidities were included, and 404 patients without comorbidities were selected as controls. Among the patients with comorbidities, a higher percentage experienced relapse after undergoing immunotherapy compared to the control group (68.5% vs 54.5%). The comorbidity group also showed a higher rate of multifocal central nervous system lesions as an initial symptom (30.4% vs 18.32% in the control group). Severe vision attacks (28.3% vs 15.8%) and severe motor attacks (30.4% vs 11.9%) continued this trend. Patients with comorbidities also tended to be older at the onset of disease.
The data provided in this study can help providers understand the unique demographic and risk factors related to cases of NMOSD that involve comorbidities. These data can be used to provide more specific guidelines about what types of care these patients may need, as well as specific risks that their comorbidities may open them up to.
Cai, L., Chen, H., Shi, Z., Wang, X., Du, Q., Zhang, Y., Lang, Y., Kong, L., Luo, W., Mou, Z., Lin, X., & Zhou, H. (2023). Non-immune system comorbidity in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders. Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 107, 16-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2022.11.008
