الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 128 |  |  |
| | | from | 128 | | |
Abstract
This study identified 50 NMOSD patients.The majority of the cohort (30 patients) was AQP4 seropositive, while twenty patients were seronegative.
The mean age of patients was 34 years, while the mean age at onset was 28 years.The studied sample showed a strong female predominance, with a female to male ratio of 4.6:1.
Despite the fact the optic neuritis was most common at disease onset, transverse myelitis came first along the disease course.
Despite the small number of male patients, they were more likely to present with transverse myelitis at disease onset as opposed to optic neuritis in the female group. The majority of males were AQP4 seronegative (6/9).
The disease course was mostly relapsing with an average relapse rate of 1.8/year. Early initiation of treatment might have prevented further relapses in two patients. EDSS showed a wide variation with an average of 4.6, over a mean disease duration of 8 years.
24% of patients had a concomitant autoimmune disorder, while 4% showed oligoclonal bands in their CSF.
Serological status had its impact among the studied patients; the AQP4 seropositive patients tended to have an older age at disease onset. Moreover, simultaneous optic neuritis and transverse myelitis was only reported in the seropositive group.
The most frequent abnormal finding on brain MRIs was non-specific white matter changes, while the most frequent on spinal MRIs was LETM. The orbital segment was the most commnly involved segment on orbital MRIs.
Less the adequate cognitive performance was observed in the studied NMOSD patients, with information processing speed as measured by SDMT, being the most frequently imapired. Median years of education, EDSS and age at disease onset were the only determinants of cognition among the studied patients. Interestingly, the presence of brain involvement in NMOSD patient did not impact the cognitive abilities.
Eventhough, males had better education than females in the current study, it did not reflect significantly on their cognitive performance.
Finally, serological status affected the cognitive performance modestly, where seronegative patients performed significantly better in MOCA and BVSMT, but not in the other studied cognitive domains.