Table 3.
Treatment strategies at last follow-up in AQP4-IgG-positive Japanese and German NMOSD patients.
| AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD | German (Berlin) (n = 38) | Japanese (Chiba) (n = 54) | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Currently treated: n (%) | 34 (89.5%) | 50 (92.6%) | 0.883 |
| Oral prednisolone: n (%) | 6 (15.8%) | 50 (92.6%) | <0.001 |
| Glatirameracetate: n (%) | 1 (2.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.859 |
| Rituximab: n (%) | 20 (52.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | <0.001 |
| Azathioprine: n (%) | 9 (23.7%) | 12 (22.2%) | >0.999 |
| Tacrolimus: n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.9%) | >0.999 |
| Belimumab: n (%) | 1 (2.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.859 |
| Mycophenolate mofetil: n (%) | 1 (2.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.859 |
| Eculizumab: n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.9%) | >0.999 |
| Tocilizumab: n (%) | 1 (2.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.859 |
| Cyclophosphamide: n (%) | 1 (2.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.859 |
| Time on current treatment: median in years [IQR] | 4.48 [1.95, 5.70] | 4.58 [2.13, 7.38] | 0.517 |
| Time on prednisolone monotherapy: median in years [IQR] | – | 5.22 [2.27, 8.18] | – |
| Time on rituximab monotherapy: median in years [IQR] | 4.48 [1.50, 5.64] | – | – |
| Time on azathioprine monotherapy: median in years [IQR] | 6.53 [4.33, 7.32] | – | |
| Time on azathioprine plus prednisolone: median in years [IQR] | 20.27 [10.78, 29.76] | – | |
| Number of attacks during current treatmenta: median [IQR] | 0.00 [0.00, 1.00] | 1.00 [0.00, 1.75] | 0.273 |
| ARR before any treatmenta: median [IQR] | 2.48 [1.10, 5.37] | 1.88 [0.58, 6.97] | 0.360 |
| ARR on current treatmenta: median [IQR] | 0.00 [0.00, 0.20] | 0.11 [0.00, 0.29] | 0.242 |
AQP4-IgG: Aquaporin 4-immunoglobulin G; IQR: interquartile range; n: number; n.a.: not available; NMOSD: neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.
Note that these group comparisons were performed using Chi-Square test for categorial variables and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for continuous variables.aFor 31 patients from Germany and 46 patients from Japan with at least one year of treatment duration at last follow-up; Dosage of oral prednisolone: 2 mg–20 mg/d, glatirameracetate: 20 mg/d, rituximab: 500-2000 mg/6 months, azathioprine: 50 to 150 mg/d, tacrolimus 3 mg/d, mycophenolate mofetil: 1500 mg/d, eculizumab: 1200 mg every 2 weeks, tocilizumab: 400 mg/month, cyclophosphamide: n.a. Significant p-values are indicated in bold.