Table 1.
Patient characteristics.
| Characteristics | IVMP alone | IVMP + PLEX |
|---|---|---|
| Number of relapses | 18 | 65 |
| Number of patients | 16 | 43 |
| Age at relapse, mean (years) | 33.9 | 43.8 |
| Female | 14 | 41 |
| Duration of disease, median (years) | 2 | 6 |
| Race | ||
| African American | 12 | 24 |
| Caucasian | 3 | 3 |
| Latino-American | 1 | 5 |
| Diagnosis | ||
| NMO, AQP4 seropositive | 6 | 27 |
| NMO, AQP4 seronegative | 5 | 3 |
| NMO spectrum disorder | 5 | 13 |
| Lesion location | ||
| Spinal cord | 9 | 33 |
| Cervical | 1 | 13 |
| Thoracic | 3 | 8 |
| Cervical+thoracic | 5 | 7 |
| Unspecified | 0 | 5 |
| Optic nerve | 8 | 22 |
| Unilateral | 7 | 16 |
| Bilateral | 1 | 6 |
| Corticalmedullary junction | 0 | 3 |
| Brain | 1 | 5 |
| Brainstem/cerebellar peduncles | 1 | 5 |
IVMP: intravenous methylprednisolone; PLEX: plasma exchange; NMO: neuromyelitis optica; AQP4: aquaporin 4.