Disease characteristics of NMOSD and their relationship with disease burden: Observations from a large single-center cohort.

Objective: To assess the demographic, clinical, and outcome data in patients with NMOSD across a single-center adult cohort and find out associations, if any, with the disease burden.

Background: Neuromyelitis Optica spectrum disorder is an autoimmune condition with unpredictable course and relapses. The clinical and economic burden of NMOSD has been studied less.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with NMOSD according to 2015 criteria at the UT Health Houston (UTH) system from 2010 to 2024 was done.

Results: Of the 68 patients, aged 40.03 yrs. (SD = 14.05), 56 (82.35 %) were females, and 17 (25.75 %) had a median household income below 2 times the poverty threshold. 51 (76.11 %) had positive aquaporin4 antibodies, 39 had optic neuritis (57.35 %), and 29 (42.63 %) had myelitis. We classified total relapses into less than 3 vs more than 3, cumulative days of hospitalization into less than 5 vs more than 5, and readmission frequency as less than 1 vs more than 1 per year. The majority of cases had less than 3 relapses (SN = 38 vs 11, MN = 22 vs 6, p > .05), less than 5 days of cumulative hospitalizations (SN = 29 vs 6, MN = 15 vs 5, p > .05), and less than 1 readmissions in a year (SN 15 vs 5, p > .05, MN = 14 vs 10, p > .05).

Conclusions: The severity of the disease can be attributed to the major clinical criteria at the time of diagnosis. This can be helpful to identify cases that may have a higher disease burden to the patient and the hospital. Larger studies are needed to confirm the same.