All patients with SSM had poor prognosis with high mean annual relapse rates, and most seemed to have the clinical and immunological characteristics of NMO. Early aggressive immune therapies should be considered in patients with SSM irrespective of the presence or absence of optic neuritis.

This study demonstrates that SS patients with recurrent CNS involvement have brain abnormalities characteristic of NMO and AQP4-Ab in Korea. The presence of AQP4-Ab in one SS patient with only brain involvement may suggest that the coexistence of NMO should be explored in SS patients with recurrent CNS manifestations, even without optic neuritis or myelitis.

MADRs are common during anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy in this population, occurring in more than one in six subjects. New and less toxic agents to treat drug-resistant TB are urgently needed.

Objective: To compare the computed tomography findings of patients with primary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) and those with drug-sensitive tuberculosis (DS TB) who were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seronegative. Methods: The computed tomography findings of 40 patients with MDR TB and 40 with DS TB were retrospectively reviewed. The presence of centrilobular nodules, consolidation, cavity, bronchiectasis, calcification, pleural effusion, lymphadenopathy, laterality and number of involved lobes were looked for. Statistical comparison entailed the use of Student's T test, the Chi-square test, and the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: Cavities were more frequently observed in patients with primary MDR TB than those with DS TB (p = 0.007), and when present, these were more numerous in the former patients than in the latter (p = 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between primary MDR TB and DS TB in terms of centrilobular nodules, consolidation, bronchiectasis, calcification, pleural effusions, lymphadenopathy, laterality, and number of involved lobes. Conclusions: In HIV-seronegative patients, the presence of multiple cavities was a significantly more common computed tomography finding in the MDR TB patients than in the DS TB patients. This computed tomography finding may enable early detection and appropriate therapy for such infected patients, as it can be obtained rapidly.