학술논문
Frequency of new asymptomatic MRI lesions during attacks and follow-up of patients with NMOSD in a real-world setting.
Document Type
Article
Author
Carnero Contentti, Edgar; Lopez, Pablo A; Tkachuk, Verónica; Vrech, Carlos; Zarate, María A; Correale, Jorge; Deri, Norma; Luetic, Geraldine; Marrodan, Mariano; Pagani Cassara, Fátima; Tavolini, Darío; Ysrraelit, María Célica; Balbuena, María E; Hryb, Javier; Chiganer, Edson; Leguizamon, Felisa; Knorre, Eduardo; Zanga, Gisela; Pestchanker, Claudia; Barboza, Andrés
Source
Subject
*NEUROMYELITIS optica
*MAGNETIC resonance imaging
*OPTIC nerve injuries
*
*
Language
ISSN
1352-4585
Abstract
Background: We aimed to assess the frequency of new asymptomatic lesions on brain and spinal imaging (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) and their association with subsequent relapses in a large cohort of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) patients in Argentina. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 675 MRI (225 performed during an attack and 450 during the relapse-free period (performed at least 3 months from the last attack)) of NMOSD patients who had at least 2 years of clinical and MRI follow-up since disease onset. Kaplan–Meier (KM) curves were used for depicting time from remission MRI to subsequent relapse. Results: We included 135 NMOSD patients (64.4% were aquaporin-4-immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG)-positive). We found that 26 (19.26%) and 66 (48.88%) of patients experienced at least one new asymptomatic MRI lesion during both the relapse-free period and attacks, respectively. The most frequent asymptomatic MRI lesions were optic nerves followed by short-segment myelitis during the relapse-free period and attacks. KM curves did not show differences in the time taken to develop a new relapse. Conclusion: Our findings showed that new asymptomatic lesions are relatively frequent. However, the presence of new asymptomatic MRI lesions during the relapse-free period and at relapses was not associated with a shorter time to developing subsequent relapses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]