Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) has a highly variable clinical course but a number of demographic, clinical and MRI features can guide the clinician in the assessment of disease activity and likely disability outcome. It is also clear that the inflammatory activity in the first five years of relapsing-remitting MS results in the neurodegenerative changes seen in secondary progressiv...

We enrolled 116 patients in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind controlled trial of an 8-week course of 11 plasma exchange (PE) treatments in exacerbations of MS. The control group received sham PE, and both groups received identical treatment with IM ACTH and oral cyclophosphamide. Serum IgG decreased in the PE and sham treatment groups by 76% versus 22% by treatment 5, and by 64% versus 1...

BACKGROUND Treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with interferon beta is only partly effective, and new more effective and safe strategies are needed. Our aim was to assess the efficacy of oral methylprednisolone as an add-on therapy to subcutaneous interferon beta-1a to reduce the yearly relapse rate in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. METHODS NORMIMS (NORd...

We investigated various magnetic resonance MRI parameters for both brain and spinal cord to see if any improved the clinicoradiological correlation in multiple sclerosis. Ninety-one multiple sclerosis patients (28 relapsing-remitting, 32 secondary progressive and 31 primary progressive) were imaged using conventional T1, proton density- and T2-weighted MRI of the brain and spinal cord. Focal br...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Quantitative CBF usage as a biomarker for cognitive impairment and disease progression in MS is potentially a powerful tool for longitudinal patient monitoring. Dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion with bookend T1-calibration (bookend technique) and pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling have recently been used for CBF quantification in relapsing-remitting MS. The n...

Objectives—To find whether CSF analysis may diVerentiate between relapsingremitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Methods—In 17 patients with relapsingremitting and 16 patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, all without current or recent relapses, albumin CSF: peripheral blood ratio, mononuclear cell number, CD4+, CD8+, and B1+ subsets, CD4+:CD8+ ratio, IgG, IgG ...

BACKGROUND The anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab effectively depletes B lymphocytes and has been successfully used in the therapy of immune-mediated disorders of the peripheral nervous system. A limited effect of rituximab on B lymphocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid compartment of patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) was recently reported. OBJECTIVE To determine the...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Cortical dysfunction, quantifiable by cerebral perfusion techniques, is prevalent in patients with MS, contributing to cognitive impairment. We sought to localize perfusion distribution differences in patients with relapsing-remitting MS with and without cognitive impairment and healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-nine patients with relapsing-remitting MS (20...

background:  multiple  sclerosis  (ms) is a  chronic inflammatory  demyelinating  and  neurodegenerative disease  of central  nervous  system  with unknown  causes. etiology of ms involves  both  genetic  and  environment factors.  the  interleukin  7   receptor   (il7r)   gene   is  a promising candidate  for ms, because its involvement in the autoimmunity, regulation of the t-cell homeostasis...

background: disease-modifying drugs (dmds) are a significant expenditure for treating multiple sclerosis (ms). however, there is limited report on assessment of the cost-utility of dmds compared with symptom management in the presence of long-term data. this study aimed to assess the lifetime cost-utility from the iranian healthcare perspectives of 4dmds relative to symptom management alone in ...