Neuromyelitis optica has not been thoroughly studied in Brazilian patients following the discovery of NMO-
IgG and its specific
antigen aquaporin-4. In this study we aimed to describe the clinical NMO-
IgG immunological status and neuroimaging characteristics of recurrent
neuromyelitis optica in a series Brazilian patients. We undertook a retrospective study of 28 patients with recurrent
neuromyelitis optica, according to 1999 Wingerchuk's diagnostic criteria. Data on NMO-
IgG status, clinical features, and MRI findings were analyzed. Three men and 25 women were evaluated. Median age at onset of disease was 26 years (range 7-55); median time of follow-up was 7 years (range 2-14). The mean time elapsed between the first and the second attack was 17 months (median 8.5; range 2-88). NMO-
IgG was detected in 18 patients (64.3%). Four patients died due to
respiratory failure. Most patients presented with cervical (36%) and cervical-thoracic
myelitis (46.4%). Holocord lesion was the most common pattern of involvement (50%) on the axial plane. We did not find a statistical association between
myelitis extension and NMO-
IgG result. Our series of Brazilian patients showed a younger age of onset than previously reported. In our series, in contrast to previous reports, there was no correlation between the extension of
myelitis and NMO-
IgG positivity.