ObjectiveTo preliminary investigate the impact of the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment method reform on the diagnosis and treatment of inpatient medical insurance patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), and to propose potential improvement strategies. MethodsA single-center, retrospective study. From October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2022, 44 hospitalized medical insurance patients with acute-phase NMOSD diagnosed and treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University (Xi'an First Hospital) were included in the study. Among them, there were 11 males and 33 females, with an average age of (40.8±20.2) years. According to the implementation time of DRG payment, patients were divided into two groups: group A, which consists of cases one year before the implementation of DRG payment from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, and group B, which consists of cases one year after the implementation of DRG payment from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022, with 20 and 24 cases, respectively. Detailed information such as hospitalization duration, treatment methods, and hospitalization costs of the two groups of patients was collected. Comparative analysis was conducted on hospitalization costs and treatment methods between the two groups. For intergroup comparison, t-test was used for normally distributed data, and Mann-Whitney U test was used for skewed distributed data. ResultsAmong the 44 patients, 5 cases (5/24, 20.8%) received plasma exchange (PE) treatment, all of whom were in group B. The numbers of patients who received and did not receive intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment were 9 and 11 in group A, respectively, and 7 and 12 in group B (except for 5 cases who received PE treatment), respectively. Compared with group A, there was no significant decrease in hospitalization duration (t=0.004) and total hospitalization costs (Z=0.036), as well as costs for western medicine (Z=0.036), examinations (Z=0.011), laboratory tests (Z=0.040), treatments (Z=0.017), and nursing (Z=3.131) in group B, and the differences were not statistically significant (P＞0.05). For patients receiving PE treatment, except for the cost of western medicine (Z=0.062, P=0.804), the other costs (Z=8.288, 5.013, 11.400, 10.925, 9.126) were significantly higher than those of patients not receiving PE treatment, and the hospitalization duration (t=20.474) was significantly prolonged, with statistically significant differences (P＜0.05). The total hospitalization costs of patients receiving IVIG treatment were significantly higher than those not receiving IVIG treatment in both group A and group B, with statistically significant differences (Z=7.690, 10.314; P＜0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the comparison of total hospitalization costs between patients receiving IVIG treatment in group A and group B (Z=0.137, P＞0.05). ConclusionsThere is no significant decrease in various hospitalization costs of NMOSD medical insurance patients in Xi'an after the implementation of DRG payment, especially for patients receiving PE treatment. It is suggested to optimize the rate stratification of NMOSD patients when implementing DRG payment methods.
Objective To observe the correlation of serum aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibodies and condition and visual prognosis in patients with severe neuromyelitis optica spectral disorders (NMOSD). Methods Fifty NMOSD patients with visual acuity of 20/200 or worse in at least one eye were enrolled in this retrospective analysis. There were 12 males and 38 females. The age ranged from 17 to 65 years, with the mean of (39.86±2.02) years. The patients were divided into two groups according to the serum AQP4-IgG status. The ophthalmologic examination, serum anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody detection and vision prognosis were compared and analyzed. Glucocorticoid therapy was delivered to 46 patients who were within 1 month of onset. The visual acuity of the patients after treatment was divided into complete recovery, partial recovery, stabilization and reduction, and the visual acuity of the two groups were analyzed. Results Among 50 patients, there were 30 (60%) seropositive patients (positive group), 20 (40%) seronegative patients (negative group). The positive group had significantly higher ratio of female to male (P=0.004), and more binocular optic neuritis (ON) (P=0.010) compared with the negative group. More recurrence ON were also found in the positive group, but without statistic difference between two groups (P=0.167). There was no difference of age, course, and vision damage degrees and abnormal orbital MRI scanning between two groups (P＞0.05). Among 24 patients who underwent serum ANA detection in the positive group, 8 patients were positive. All of 18 patients who underwent serum ANA detection in the negative group were negative. The difference of the ratio of serum ANA positive patients between two groups was significant (P=0.030). Serum MOG antibody detection in the positive group was negative (0/10). Sixteen patients who underwent MOG antibody detection in negative group, 4 patients were positive. After treatment, there were 23.3%, 23.3%, 53.3% patients with vision of complete recovery, partial recovery and reduction in the positive group; 25.0%, 30.0%, 25.0% patients with vision of complete recovery, partial recovery and reduction in the negative group, respectively. There was no difference in proportion of vision with complete recovery and partial recovery between two groups (P=0.163, 0.607), but significant difference was observed in proportion of vision with stabilization and reduction between two groups (P=0.021, 0.048). Conclusions The positive serum AQP4 antibody is common in patients with severe NMOSD. The patients with AQP4 antibody in the serum are more likely combined with immunological serological markers and poor vision prognosis.
ObjectiveTo observe the ocular manifestations and the titer of aquaporin 4 antibody (AQP-4) in NMO patients, and to evaluate the BCVA prognosis in patients with different titers of AQP-4Ab.MethodsA retrospective case study. From September 2009 to March 2014, 132 NMO patients diagnosed in Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology in Huashan Hospital of Fudan University were included in the study. Among the patients, 74 patients (56.06%) were involved in optic nerve for the first time, among which 63 patients (47.72%) were involved in optic nerve alone, and 11 patients (8.33%) were involved in optic nerve and spinal cord at the same time. The recurrence rate was 62.88% (twice or more). All patients underwent BCVA, slit lamp microscope, fundus examination, thyroid function, sex hormones, and serum AQP-4Ab detection. BCVA was recorded at admission and before discharge from hospital, and worse BCVA was recorded in binocular patients. The BCVA of patients with different titers of AQP-4Ab were analyzed comparatively.ResultsAmong the 74 patients with optic nerve involved in the first onset, 50 patients with BCVA＜0.1 at the initial diagnosis (67.57%); AQP-4Ab positive was found in 56 patients, which including 13, 9 and 34 patients of AQP-4Ab titer 5 - 60, 61 - 100 and ＞100 RSRU/ml. After 2 weeks of treatment, BCVA improved in 40 patients (71.42%), including 11 (84.62%), 6 (66.67%) and 23 (67.64%) of AQP-4Ab titer 5 - 60, 61 - 100 and ＞ 100 RSRU/ml. Among 132 patients, 98 patients (74.24%) were AQP-4Ab positive. There were 73 patients (55.30%) with abnormal immune rheumatoid index.ConclusionsThe optic nerve is involved in 56.06% patients with NMO for the first time, and 67.57% of the patients had poor vision with BCVA＜0.1. BCVA prognosis is better in patients with serum AQP-4Ab titer of 5 - 60 RSRU/ml.
Objective To observe the effect of intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP) pulse therapy on the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the number of relapses in patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder-related optic neuritis (NMOSD-ON) after total IVMP dose. MethodsA retrospective clinical study. From March 2020 to February 2023, 23 patients of 27 eyes with NMOSD-ON in Shanxi Eye Hospital were included in the study. BCVA examinations were performed on all affected eyes using the international standard visual acuity chart, which was statistically converted into logMAR visual acuity. Serum aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-IgG) was detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay based on cell detection technology in all patients. According to Guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of NMOSD spectrum disorders in China (2021 edition), patients were given IVMP impact therapy. Among them, 18 and 5 patients received 1 000 and 500 mg/d IVMP pulse therapy respectively for 3-5 consecutive days, followed by a reduction to 500 or 250 mg/d for 2-3 consecutive days. The average total IVMP dose during the treatment was 4 500 mg (1 500-5 250 mg). The changes in BCVA at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after treatment were observed for the initial and post-treatment BCVA of ≤0.1, ＞0.1-<0.5, and ≥0.5. The changes of BCVA at 1 week and 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment were observed. The comparison of BCVA between different age, disease duration, and IVMP total dose conditions was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The comparison of BCVA between different relapse times was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The influence of IVMP total dose on the number of relapses during the 6-month follow-up was analyzed using χ2 test. The factors affecting BCVA ≥0.5 after 6 months of IVMP treatment were analyzed by logistic regression, and the correlation between ΔlogMAR BCVA and IVMP pulse total dose was analyzed by Spearman correlation. ResultsIn 23 cases with 27 eyes, there were 3 males and 20 females. The median age was 35 years. The median duration of illness was 5 days. There were 21 (91.30%, 21/23) positive and 2 (8.70%, 2/23) negative cases of AQP4-IgG, respectively. There were 3 cases (13.04%, 3/23) with the first course of disease and 4 eyes (14.81%, 4/27). There were 20 cases (86.96%, 20/23) with recurrence course and 23 eyes (85.19%, 23/27). The median time from initial onset to the initiation of corticosteroid treatment was 7 days. During the 6-month follow-up after treatment, 5 patients (21.74%, 5/23) relapsed in 6 eyes (22.22%, 6/27), all of which were patients with initial relapse course. Among them, recurred 1 or ≥2 times in 4 (66.67%, 4/6) and 2 (33.33%, 2/6) eyes respectively. BCVA≤0.1, ＞0.1-＜0.5, ≥0.5 in 20, 4, 3 eyes and 3, 13, 11 eyes at the beginning and 6 months after treatment, respectively. There was significant difference in the number of eyes with BCVA≤0.1, ＞0.1-＜0.5 and ≥0.5 at different time after treatment (χ2=40.772, P＜0.001). The treatment effect of female patients was better than that of male patients. The patients with initial BCVA≥0.1 had more increased eye number of BCVA than those with BCVA＜0.1, the patients with first course of disease had more increased eye number of BCVA than those with recurrent course of disease, and the patients with total dose of IVMP ＞4 500 mg had less increased eye number of BCVA than those with total dose ≤4 500 mg. The differences were statistically significant (Z=−2.449, −2.904, −2.485, −2.286; P=0.014, 0.004, 0.013, 0.022). Logistic regression analysis showed that the higher the initial BCVA≤0.1 and the total impact dose of IVMP, the lower the possibility of obtaining BCVA≥0.5 after treatment (odds ratio=0.069, 0.899; 95% confidence interval 0.010-0.463, 0.798-0.998; P=0.006, 0.020). Spearman correlation analysis showed that ΔlogMAR BCVA was negatively correlated with total impact dose of IVMP (rs=−0.472, P=0.013). There was no significant difference in the number of recurrence after different total doses of IVMP (P＞0.05). ConclusionsIVMP total dose ≤4 500 mg can achieve better BCVA prognosis compared with IVMP total dose ＞4 500 mg. IVMP total dose has no effect on the number of recurrences after treatment.
目的：探讨复发型视神经脊髓炎(relapsing neuromyelitis optica，R-NMO)与复发型多发性硬化(relapsingremitting multiple sclerosis，RRMS)患者视神经的MRI影像表现。方法：对临床满足R-NMO最新Wingerchuk等制定的诊断标准及满足最新McDonald诊断标准的RRMS患者，进行脑部、脊髓及视神经的扫描，并将两组复发型患者视神经MRI表现特点，与32位健康自愿者进行对照研究。同时回顾性分析患者的VEP检查结果。结果：41例R-NMO患者MRI检查显示患者均有单侧或双侧视神经鞘膜腔信号明显增高，呈“轨道样”改变，22例患者(53.7%)伴有视神经增粗，或(和)扭曲，17例(41.5%)可看视神经内点状高信号表现。随着病程的延长，15例(36.6%)MRI上可见单侧或双侧视神经萎缩、变细，甚至扭曲。最终35例(80.5%)视神经内见到点状高信号表现。121例RRMS患者中，共81名(66.9%)患者在MRI上见到了视神经的异常表现，主要表现为单侧或双侧视神经鞘膜腔部分节段或全段呈“轨道样”高信号改变，其中23例(28.4%)表现为视神经球球后起始段局限性信号增高，视神经15例(12.4%)伴有视神经的肿胀，但视神经萎缩不及R-NMO患者明显。随着时间延长，12例(9.9%)可见视神经内点状高信号脱髓鞘改变。两组患者P100峰值延迟时间差异具有统计学意义(Plt;0.05)。结论：MRI可以成为视神经炎的首选影像学检查方法。两组患者MRI与VEP检查结果存在一定的差异性，可以成为鉴别诊断的依据。
The first edition of “The Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of optic neuritis” have been published in Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology in 2014. Seven years later, more evidence-based medicine has been accumulated in the treatment of optic neuritis. It is necessary to update or formulate guidelines to guide clinical practice. Based on the methods and procedures for developing evidence -based guidelines, Neuro-Ophthalmology Group of Ophthalmology Branch of Chinese Medical Association and Evidence-based Medicine Centre of Lanzhou University/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Guideline Implementation and Knowledge Translation created the first “An evidence-based guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of demyelinating optic neuritis in China (2021)”, which aimed to improve the level of clinical diagnosis and treatments of demyelinating optic neuritis. This guideline proposes a new subtype classification of demyelinating optic neuritis to guide precision treatment. It also gives new suggestions about clinical treatment hotspots in the acute and chronic phases, including the application of immunosuppressants and rituximab and other biological agents.