Demographic, clinical and MRI characteristics
| HC (n=60) | MOGAD (n=35) | AQP4+ NMOSD (n=38) | MS (n=37) | |
| Clinical characteristic | ||||
| Gender, female ratio (%) | 31/60 (52%) | 21/35 (60%)* | 32/38 (84%)†‡ | 23/37 (62%) |
| Age (mean (SD), year) | 36.9 (12.7) | 36.4 (13.6) | 37.7 (11.9) | 33.8 (11.2) |
| Disease duration (median (IQR), year) | 0.8 (0.3–4.3) | 1.4 (0.8–3.2) | 3 (1–5.3) | |
| EDSS (median (IQR)) | 3 (2–4) | 3.5 (2-4.5)† | 2.5 (1–3) | |
| Monophasic, n (%) | 10 (29%)† | 6 (16%)† | 0 (0%) | |
| Number of relapses (median (IQR)) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (2–3) | 2 (2–4) | |
| Clinical symptom | ||||
| Optic neuritis, n (%) | 33 (94%)† | 31 (82%)† | 12 (32%) | |
| Myelitis, n (%) | 10 (29%)* | 28 (74%)† | 12 (32%) | |
| Encephalopathy, n (%) | 3 (9%) | 2 (7%) | 2 (5%) | |
| Brain lesions | ||||
| Presence of brain lesions, n (%) | 19(54%)† | 23 (61%)† | 36 (97%) | |
| Cortical/juxtacortical, n (%) | 13 (68%)* | 6(26%)† | 29 (81%) | |
| Deep WM, n (%) | 9 (47%)† | 10(43%)† | 35 (96%) | |
| Periventricular WM, n (%) | 11(58%)† | 12(52%)† | 35 (96%) | |
| Corpus callosum, n (%) | 3 (16%) | 4 (17%) | 19 (53%) | |
| Basal ganglia, n (%) | 4 (21%) | 5 (22%) | 12 (33%) | |
| Thalamus, n (%) | 1 (5%) | 4 (17%) | 7 (19%) | |
| Internal capsule, n (%) | 4 (21%) | 4 (17%) | 8 (22%) | |
| Brain stem, n (%) | 6 (32%) | 7 (30%) | 15 (42%) | |
| Midbrain, n (%) | 5 (26%) | 5 (22%) | 3 (8%) | |
| Pontine, n (%) | 2 (11%) | 2(9%)† | 11 (31%) | |
| Medulla oblongata, n (%) | 3 (16%) | 4 (17%) | 4 (11%) | |
| Cerebellar peduncles, n (%) | 1 (5%) | 1 (4%) | 6 (17%) | |
| Cerebellum, n (%) | 0† | 0† | 6 (17%) | |
| NMOSD-specific lesions, n (%) | 2 (11%) | 4 (17%) | 1 (3%) | |
| Periependymal surfaces of third ventricle, n (%) | 0 | 1 (4%) | 0 | |
| Periependymal surfaces of fourth ventricle, n (%) | 2 (11%) | 3 (13%) | 1 (3%) | |
| Area postrema, n (%) | 1 (5%) | 1 (4%) | 0 | |
| MS-specific lesions, n (%) | ||||
| Lesions adjacent to the body of the lateral ventricle and in the inferior temporal lobe, n (%) | 0† | 0† | 14 (39%) | |
| Dawson’s finger type lesions, n (%) | 0† | 1 (4%)† | 13 (36%) | |
| S or U shape lesions, n (%) | 2 (11%) | 3 (13%) | 11 (31%) | |
| Quantitative MRI measures | ||||
| Lesion volume (mean (SD), mL) | 9.1 (18.2) | 2.5 (3.1) | 16.5 (15.7) | |
| Brain parenchyma volume (mean (SD), mL) | 1128.2 (31.4) | 1095.2 (66.2)†‡ | 1100.8 (53.6)† | 1051.6 (70.5)‡ |
| Cortical GM volume (mean (SD), mL) | 509.8 (20.0) | 493.5 (30.0)‡ | 493.7 (28.1)‡ | 483.5 (24.8)‡ |
| Subcortical GM volume (mean (SD), mL) | 40.9 (1.9) | 39.0 (3.3)†‡ | 39.4 (2.7)† | 34.6 (5.6)‡ |
| Brainstem volume (mean (SD), mL) | 16.7 (1.1) | 16.2 (1.2) | 16.5 (1.2) | 15.7 (1.7)‡ |
| Cerebellum volume (mean (SD), mL) | 125.7 (8.2) | 121.8 (7.3)† | 120.3 (8.1)‡ | 116.4 (9.7)‡ |
| Cerebral WM volume (mean (SD), mL) | 419.6 (17.9) | 408.2 (33.9)† | 413.3 (25.7)† | 385.0 (42.4)‡ |
| FA (mean (SD)) | 0.47 (0.02) | 0.46 (0.02)† | 0.46 (0.02)† | 0.43 (0.02)‡ |
| MD (mean (SD), 10−3 mm2/s) | 0.92 (0.03) | 0.94 (0.04)† | 0.93 (0.03)† | 0.99 (0.05)‡ |
MRI measurements (except for lesion volume) were adjusted for total intracranial volume (only for volume measurements), gender, age and scanner type.
Statistical significance with two-sided p<0.05.
*Indicated a statistically significant difference compared with AQP4+ NMOSD.
†Indicated a statistically significant difference compared with MS.
‡Indicated a statistically significant difference compared with HC.
AQP4+ NMOSD, aquaporin 4 seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders; EDSS, expanded disability status scale; FA, fractional anisotropy; GM, grey matter; HC, healthy controls; MD, mean diffusivity; MOGAD, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody associated disease; MS, multiple sclerosis; WM, white matter.