Multiple sclerosis in Central America and Caribbean countries: frequency and clinical characterization of an emergent disease.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a common neurological disease among white populations of European origin. Frequencies among Latin Americans continue to be studied, however, epidemiologic, and clinical characterization studies lack from Central American and Caribbean countries. Ethnicity in these countries is uniformly similar with a prevalent Mestizo population.

Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder in Central America and the Caribbean: A Multinational Clinical Characterization Study.

Here, a study of NMOSD in Central America and the Caribbean with a multinational collaborative, multicentric and descriptive approach involving 25 institutions from 9 countries is presented. Demographics, clinical manifestations, expanded disability scale status (EDSS), brain and spinal cord MRI, serological anti-AQP4-IgG and anti-MOG-IgG antibodies, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) oligoclonal bands were included. A central serological repository utilized the cell-based assay.