Table 4: Differential Diagnosis of NMO vs MS

Features		Neuromyelitis Optica	Multiple Sclerosis
Attacks are bilateral		Usually [8,9]	Rarely [8]
Visual loss severity		More, with less improvement [8,10,14,22]	Less, with more improvement [9,22]
White matter lesions on brain MRI		Rarely and usually resolving [8,9]	Usually [8,22]
Transverse myelitis		TM in spinal MRI often spanning ≥3 spinal cord segments (in 20%) [2,8,9,22]	Rarely [8]
Clinical involvement beyond spinal cord and optic nerve		Rarely [8]	Usually [8]
Tissue destruction and cavitations		More than MS [8]	Less than NMO [8]
CSF Analysis	Oligoclonal bands	Rarely [2,8,9]	Frequently [8,22]
	Protein contents	Higher than MS [8]	Lower than NMO [8]
Treatment	DMDs	Ineffective even worsening [8,9]	Effective [8,9,23]
	Immunosuppressive (corticosteroids)	First line of treatment [8,9]	First line of treatment [24]