CONy 2020 | Revising the neuromyelitis optica criteria

Angela Vincent, MBBS (Hon PhD Bergen), FRCPath, FMedSci, FRS, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, discusses the changes that need to be made to the criteria of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. Currently the criteria include the clinical symptoms of neuromyelitis optica and the presence of aquaporin-4 antibodies. However, MOG antibodies are also present in the spectrum. Both antibodies need to be included in the criteria, as they require different treatment strategies. There are also patients who have neither aquaporin-4 or MOG antibodies and the criteria needs to be inclusive of these patients as well. This interview took place during the Virtual World Congress on Controversies in Neurology (CONy) 2020.