NeuroMyelitis Optica (NMO)

5/23/2016

Here is My Question:
I am in the military and I am search of info in regards to NMO. The military does not specifically recognize NMO so I must find an analogous disease to present to them. What disease or illness would be a great analogy to NMO just for the purpose of giving military medical personnel a better understanding.

Answer:
NMO stands for NeuroMyelitis Optica. It is a recognized as a distinct disease entity by ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnostic criteria. These are federal medicare billing codes, so it is hard to understand why the military would not recognize this diagnosis. As a disease state it is more akin to CNS vasculitis than Multiple Sclerosis. Pathologically NMO is a humorally mediated, autoimmune disease with a pathogenic autoantibody directed against the Aquaporin 4 receptor in over 65 % of cases.

Revere (Rip) Kinkel MD
Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program
Director of Hillcrest Neurology
Professor of Clinical Neurosciences
University of California San Diego

Mary Blackwell

5/31/2016 03:54:36 am

It would seem that the advice of an experienced disability attorney might be helpful even though the military is its own little world of rules and regulations.

Also emphasis on verifiable limitations such as visual acuity might be more relevant to the awarding of benefits in addition to the diagnosis.

It is not clear what the writer wants the military to do beyond recognizing the diagnosis so I hope these thoughts are pertinent and helpful.

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