New international consensus diagnostic criteria have recently been published for NMO, an uncommon disease syndrome of the central nervous system that affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Affected individuals develop optic neuritis, which causes pain in the eye and vision loss, and transverse myelitis, which causes weakness, numbness, and sometimes paralysis of the arms and legs, along with sensory disturbances and loss of bladder and bowel control.
The 2015 consensus diagnostic criteria for NMO and NMO spectrum disorders (NMO/SD) apply the latest scientific and medical insights into adult and pediatric disease, imaging, laboratory tests, and potential relationships of NMO/SD to other autoimmune diseases. These new criteria are anticipated to improve diagnostic accuracy of NMO/SD and other autoimmune diseases and speed appropriate therapies.