L. PanditN. AsgariM. ApiwattanakulJ. PalaceF. PaulM. I. LeiteI. KleiterT. ChitnisRaffaele IorioJens WürfelFriedemann PaulDaniëlle Van PeltHintzen RogierThomas TedderAlbert SaizPablo VillosladaMichael LevyLekha PanditEric KlawiterBrian WeinshenkerDean WingerchukHo Jin KimSilvia TenembaumJacqueline PalaceMaria Isabel LeiteMetha ApiwattanakulSimon BroadleyNaraporn PrayoonwiwatIngo KleiterKerstin HellwigMay HanBrenda BanwellKatja Van HerleAnu JacobCraig HooperDouglas Kazutoshi SatoIchiro NakashimaKazuo FujiharaDenis BichuettiOrhan AktasJerome De SezeMichael YeamanEmmanuelle WaubantScott ZamvilJeffrey BennettTerry SmithMarco Lana-PeixotoNasrin AsgariBenjamin GreenbergOlaf StuveK.S. Hegde Medical AcademySyddansk UniversitetVejle SygehusPrasat Neurological InstituteUniversity of OxfordCharité – Universitätsmedizin BerlinSt. Josef-Hospital im Katholischen Klinikum BochumMassachusetts General HospitalUniversita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, RomeErasmus University Medical CenterDuke University School of MedicineInstitut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer - IDIBAPSJohns Hopkins UniversityMayo ClinicNational Cancer Center, GyeonggiNational Pediatric Hospital Dr. Juan P. GarrahanGriffith UniversityMahidol UniversityStanford University School of MedicineUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe Guthy-Jackson Charitable FoundationNHS Foundation TrustThomas Jefferson UniversityTohoku UniversityUniversidade Federal de Sao PauloHeinrich Heine UniversitatCHU StrasbourgHarbor-UCLA Medical CenterUniversity of California, San FranciscoUniversity of DenverUniversity of Michigan Medical SchoolUniversity of Minas Gerais Medical SchoolUT Southwestern Medical CenterYale University School of Medicine2018-11-232018-11-232015-06-06Multiple Sclerosis Journal. Vol.21, No.7 (2015), 845-85314770970135245852-s2.0-84930410893https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/36408© The Author(s), 2015. The comparative clinical and demographic features of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) are not well known. In this review we analyzed peer-reviewed publications for incidence and prevalence, clinical phenotypes, and demographic features of NMO. Population-based studies from Europe, South East and Southern Asia, the Caribbean, and Cuba suggest that the incidence and prevalence of NMO ranges from 0.05-0.4 and 0.52-4.4 per 100,000, respectively. Mean age at onset (32.6-45.7) and median time to first relapse (8-12 months) was similar. Most studies reported an excess of disease in women and a relapsing course, particularly in anti-aquaporin 4 antibody (anti AQP4-IgG)-positive patients. Ethnicity may have a bearing on disease phenotype and clinical outcome. Despite limitations inherent to the review process, themes noted in clinical and demographic features of NMO among different populations promote a more global understanding of NMO and strategies to address it.Mahidol UniversityMedicineReviewSCOPUS10.1177/1352458515572406