Shamik Bhattacharyya, MD

In this final episode, the panel looks ahead to the next phase of NMOSD research—calling for standardized relapse definitions, prospective comparative trials, improved acute treatment strategies, and more selective immune-targeted therapies that move beyond broad immunosuppression.

In this episode, the panel explores the role of treatment satisfaction questionnaires in NMOSD, discussing how patient-reported experience—alongside efficacy and safety—may shape future prescribing decisions and how complement inhibition could redefine long-term management paradigms.

In this episode, the panel discusses the real-world safety signals seen with rituximab—particularly serious and recurrent infections—how to think beyond IgG levels alone, and what clinicians can do to better monitor and mitigate infectious risk while balancing relapse prevention.

In this episode, the panel reviews the real-world efficacy and safety data from their 176-patient cohort, highlighting relapse risk across therapies, the cumulative safety burden of rituximab, and why mycophenolate mofetil and azathioprine may no longer have a role in NMOSD management.

Shamik Bhattacharyya, MD, and Philippe-Antoine Bilodeau, MD, provide background on their recent Neurology publication, explaining why the study was conducted, how newer FDA-approved NMOSD therapies compare with rituximab, and the complex real-world methods used to assess relapse and safety outcomes.

The associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School talked about reconsidering therapy switches for NMOSD, incorporating safety failures like recurrent infections, and prioritizing real-world studies to validate findings. [WATCH TIME: 5 minutes]

The associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School discussed a study presented at ECTRIMS 2024 that compared the effectiveness and safety profiles of FDA-approved NMOSD therapies with other commonly used treatments. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]