Treatment of Devic’s disease

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Variable responses to rituximab treatment in Devic’s disease.” (Neurol Sci. 2007 Aug;28(4):209-11). Authors are Capobianco M, Malucchi S, di Sapio A, et al., from the Centro di Riferimento Regionale Sclerosi Multipla & Neurobiologia Clinica – ASO S. Luigi Gonzaga, Regione Gonzole, Orbassano (TO), Italy. Devic’s disease, a combination of optic neuritis and myelitis, is a rare diseases also known as a neuromyelitis optica. It is an uncommon pattern of demyelinating disorder. The authors described two cases of Devic’s disease patients treated with rituximab with different outcomes. The results indicate that there may be early unresponsiveness in very aggressive cases. Well designed clinical trials are needed to assess treatment effects in such a rare disease. To access the abstract of the article, click here.