In 1894, Eugène Devic and his PhD student Fernand Gault described 16 patients who had lost vision in one or both eyes and within weeks developed severe spastic weakness of the limbs, loss of sensation and often bladder control.
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Currently at least two different causes are proposed based on the presence of autoantibodies against AQP4.
Neuromyelitis optica, also known as Devic's disease or Devic's syndrome