Moving Forward on Acquired Demyelinating Syndromes : Diagnosis, Disease Course and Outcome

Acquired demyelinating syndromes (ADS) encompass a broad spectrum of inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system. This thesis focuses on two rare groups of patients in the ADS spectrum: neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) in adults and the spectrum of childhood onset ADS.
Accurate diagnosis and prediction of disease course is imperative for accurate counselling and treatment opportunities. Yet, due to overlap in clinical presentation of different subtypes in ADS, one can envision that the distinction between these subtypes can be difficult.
We aimed to move forward on the spectrum of ADS by investigating predictive factors for an accurate diagnosis, and by describing the disease course and outcome of these patients.