Cognitive functions in Egyptian neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder

•Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder is understudied in Egypt and North Africa.•High disability and resemblance to multiple sclerosis triggered this study.•Cognitive performance in NMOSD is an interesting area of research. Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, characterized by optic neuritis and longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis. Magnetic resonance imaging abnormalities may be observed in various brain regions of NMOSD patients. Only a few studies have addressed the cognitive functions in NMOSD, but none among Egyptian patients. To investigate cognitive performance in a cohort of 20 Egyptian patients with NMOSD. Observational, prospective study. We studied 20 Egyptian patients with NMOSD and compared them with 18 healthy Egyptian controls matched for age, sex, and educational level. We applied an Arabic translation of MOCA and BICAMS Tests for Multiple Sclerosis. Cognitive performance was significantly worse in the NMOSD group than in healthy controls for CVLT (P = 0.0099), SDMT (P = 0.0112), BVSMT (P = 0.019) and BICAMS in total (P = 0.0014). Patients with a later disease onset performed worse in MOCA and BVSMT. This study confirms the concept of cognitive involvement in NMOSD among Egyptian patients. Information processing speed was the function most commonly impaired.