Table 4.
Treatment history in AQP4-IgG-positive Japanese and German NMOSD patients.
| AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD | German (Berlin) (n = 38) | Japanese (Chiba) (n = 54) | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immunomodulatory therapy during the entire disease course | |||
| Ever treated: n (%) | 37 (97.4%) | 51 (94.4%) | 0.874 |
| Rituximab: n (%) | 24 (63.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | <0.001 |
| Azathioprine: n (%) | 24 (63.2%) | 14 (25.9%) | 0.001 |
| Cyclophosphamide: n (%) | 4 (10.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.055 |
| Mitoxantron: n (%) | 4 (10.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.055 |
| Tacrolimus: n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.9%) | >0.999 |
| Belimumab: n (%) | 1 (2.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.859 |
| Cyclosporin A: n (%) | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (3.7%) | 0.636 |
| Mycophenolate mofetil: n (%) | 1 (2.6%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0.859 |
| Methotrexat: 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 |
| Attack treatment during the entire disease coursea | |||
| IVMP: n of attacks (%) | 111 (85.4%) | 311 (84.5%) | 0.923 |
| Plasmapheresis: n of attacks (%) | 6 (4.6%) | 6 (1.6%) | 0.115 |
| Immunoadsorption: n of attacks (%) | 1 (0.8%) | 29 (7.9%) | 0.115 |
| Intravenous immunoglobulins: n of attacks (%) | 1 (0.8%) | 1 (0.3%) | >0.999 |
| No treatment: n of attacks (%) | 11 (8.5%) | 21 (5.7%) | 0.372 |
| No information: n of attacks (%) | 34 (20.7%) | 18 (4.7%) | <0.001 |
| Escalation therapyb | |||
| Plasmapheresis: n of attacks (%) | 10 (8.2%) | 0 (0.0%) | - |
| IVMP: n of attacks (%) | 14 (11.5%) | 0 (0.01%) | - |
| Immunoadsorption: n of attacks (%) | 2 (1.6%) | 1 (0.0%) | - |
| Intravenous immunoglobulines: n of attacks (%) | 3 (2.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | - |
AQP4-IgG: Aquaporin 4-immunoglobulin G; n: number; NMOSD: neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders. Note that these group comparisons were performed using Chi-Square test. Significant p-values are indicated in bold.aAttack treatment information was available for 498 out of 550 attacks, 130 attacks in the German cohort and 368 attacks in the Japanese cohort, respectively.bDue to the small numbers no p-values are provided for escalation therapy.