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]