EFFICACY OF MYCOPHENOLATE MOFETIL IN TWO PATIENTS AFFECTED BY NEUROMYELITIS OPTICA

No relapses and no MRI activity occurred in both patients under Mycophenolate treatment. Mean yearly relapse rate in patient 1 was 1.5 before and 0 after Mycophenolate treatment. Patient 2 had only one episode of transverse myelitis, no relapses after Mycophenolate treatment occurred. EDSS improved from 2.0 to 1.5 in pt 1 and from 8.0 to 7.5 in pt 2 (Table 2). Treatment was safe and well tolerated and no serious infections occurred in both patients. Currently, our patients are still ongoing with Mycophenolate. Discussion: our positive experience with Mycophenolate on only 2 NMO patients doesn't allow us to formulate definitive judgments about its efficacy. However, our results are consistent with previous published data (6). The use of Rituximab in NMO is supported by small open-label and retrospective studies, but it is important to remark some limitations to its use, above all in small, not academic, MS hospital centers. These limitations are its high costs as well as the management of potential serious adverse events, like infusion-related reactions and the occurrence of serious infections. In contrast, Mycophenolate didn't show any serious adverse event, above all no severe infections occurred (6).