Long-term Effectiveness and Safety of Rituximab in Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder and MOG Antibody Disease
Journal: Neurology; August 31, 2022
Author(s): Paula Barreras, Eleni S Vasileiou, Angeliki G Filippatou, Kathryn C Fitzgerald, Michael Levy, Carlos A Pardo, Scott D Newsome, Ellen M Mowry, Peter A Calabresi and Elias S Sotirchos
Long-term effectiveness and safety of Rituximab in NMOSD and MOGAD
Although not an FDA-approved therapy for NMOSD, rituximab is widely used as an off-label therapy for relapse prevention in NMOSD and MOGAD patients. This study evaluated long-term outcomes of rituximab treatment for 111 NMOSD patients who tested positive for antibodies against aquaporin-4 (seropositive patients) and for 23 MOGAD patients. The results show that provided the treatment protocol is followed well, rituximab reduces the annual relapse rate substantially in seropositive NMOSD patients but not as robustly in MOGAD patients. Significant cases of infections were noted among patients, highlighting the need for careful monitoring of infections in patients under rituximab treatment.
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