The Mayo Clinic has developed the first test for neuromyelitis optica or NMO, a blinding, paralyzing disease often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
The test, which looks for a newly identified central nervous system autoantibody in a sample of blood, will help speed diagnosis and treatment.
NMO, also called Devic’s syndrome, affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Within five years, half of affected patients lose vision in at least one eye. Many eventually lose the ability to walk independently.
NMO may be misdiagnosed as much as 30 percent of the time. It is particularly difficult to distinguish from MS in the early phases of the disease, which is tragic, researchers said, as the treatment for multiple sclerosis is different from that of NMO.
“Early diagnosis and treatment are of paramount importance to reduce the severity of the course of NMO,” said report author Dr. Vanda Lennon. The research appears in the current issue of The Lancet.