Hideki Garren, MD, PhD, global head of neuroimmunology at Roche, discusses neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (NMOSD), a rare autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system that often leads to damaged optic nerves and spinal cord. Blindness, muscle weakness, and paralysis can be the result.
As Dr. Garren explains in this clip, “this is a disease which attacks the optic nerve and spinal cord. So, patients can present with attacks of blindness or with weakness or paralysis or numbness in their arms and legs. These attacks can affect both the optic nerve and spinal cord or separately.” Dr. Garren added, “these attacks can be very very severe, such that they can become paralyzed or even die with a single relapse.”
According to Dr. Garren, NMOSD can be initially misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis. “That’s one of the things about NMOSD – it is often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, which is much more prevalent and it can attack anywhere within the brain, whereas NMOSD affects the eyes and the spinal cord.”
Although there is currently no approved treatment for NMOSD, there are 3 drugs in development and are showing promise in phase 3 clinical trials. These include Alexion’s eculizumab, VielaBio’s inebilizumab, and Roche’s satralizumab.