| Summary: | As the oligoclonal band in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF-OCB) in predicting relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is less sensitive in Asian populations than that in westerners, it remains elusive whether the IgG index could serve as an alternative. The purpose of this study was to compare these two methods of differentiating between RRMS and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) in Chinese patients. A total of 171 patients (81 RRMS and 90 NMOSD) were retrospectively recruited, of whom 82 (56 RRMS and 26 NMOSD) received the CSF-OCB testing additionally. When the onset age was ≤38.5 years, IgG index with the threshold of 0.67 had a significant agreement (<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">k</span> = 0.4, <i>p</i> < 0.001) with the diagnosis while CSF-OCB failed to discriminate (<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">k</span> = 0.1, <i>p</i> = 0.578). However, when the onset age was >38.5 years, both IgG index with the threshold of 0.8 and CSF-OCB were moderately consistent with the diagnosis (both <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">k</span> > 0.4, <i>p</i> < 0.05). In total, our optimized algorithm had the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive accuracy of 0.778, slightly outperforming the CSF-OCB model. Accordingly, a combination of the onset age and IgG index could serve as an alternative to CSF-OCB for differentiating between RRMS and NMOSD in Chinese patients.
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