Medically unexplained visual loss in a specialist clinic: a retrospective case-control comparison.

Purpose: To compare the clinical and demographic characteristics of adult patients with nonorganic or medically unexplained visual loss (MUVL) to those with other common conditions presenting to a neuro-ophthalmology clinic.

Methods: Case-control design: a retrospective review of medical notes on a consecutive case series of 49 patients assessed at the King's College Hospital neuro-ophthalmology clinic with unexplained visual loss and matched with the next assessed patient identified from clinic records. Patients presented post-symptom onset with a mean clinical course of 30 months (SD=67 months) and standard clinical examination used to confirm diagnoses, alongside ancillary investigations if required.

Long-term efficacy, tolerability and retention rate of azathioprine in 103 aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder patients: a multicentre retrospective observational study from the UK.

Background: Azathioprine (AZA) is a common immunosuppressive drug used for relapse prevention in neuromyelitis optica (NMO).

Objectives: The objective of this paper is to assess efficacy, tolerability and retention of AZA in a large NMO cohort.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of medical records of 103 aquaporin-4 antibody-positive NMO and NMO spectrum disorder (NMOSD) patients treated with AZA.

Prognostic factors and disease course in aquaporin-4 antibody-positive patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder from the United Kingdom and Japan.

Neuromyelitis optica and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders have been recently associated with the disease-specific autoantibody aquaporin-4, thought to be pathogenic. Identifying this antibody has allowed the clinical phenotype to be broadened. It is clear that some patients with similar clinical features do not have this antibody and may have a different condition with different outcomes and prognosis.