THE CLINICAL features of neuromyelitis optica are generally regarded by clinicians as distinct and unique in character, usually permitting prompt recognition, but in some cases the diagnosis may be difficult. When attended by pronounced visual disturbances, acute or subacute spinal cord syndromes should arouse suspicion of neuromyelitis optica. Occasionally, however, the onset of optic neuritis may be delayed for weeks or months, thus allowing some confusion in the clinical picture. On the other hand, optic neuritis may precede myelitis for considerable periods of time, again leading to diagnostic difficulty. In the latter instance, if rapidly failing vision and minimal papilledema are the only findings, the diagnosis of intracranial tumor may be excluded only after ventriculography. However, as far as we know, the first of the following cases is the only reported instance in which neuromyelitis optica so closely resembled spinal cord tumor that laminectomy was actually performed.
REPORT OF CASES