ECTRIMS: European Committee for Research and Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis

John Corboy, MD

Do patients with multiple sclerosis who have been on disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for decades need to keep taking them? John Corboy, MD, professor of neurology, University of Colorado Denver, School of Medicine, and co-director of the Rocky Mountain MS Center at Anschutz Medical Campus, explains what is known about this area.

Jan Hillert

Many patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) are actually being misclassified and treated as if they have relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), which can have an impact on research, treatment, and health care planning, said Jan Hillert, MD, PhD, professor and senior physician at Karolinska Institutet.

There is a push to diagnose multiple sclerosis (MS) earlier, which can lead to misdiagnosis if the diagnostic criteria aren’t used properly, explained Patricia K. Coyle, MD, director of the MS Comprehensive Care Center and professor of neurology at Stony Brook University Neurosciences Institute.

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a generally increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and some evidence is emerging that disease-modifying treatments may alter this risk. Thomas Frisell, PhD, coordinator of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, discusses whether newer treatments for MS, such as ozanimod, may present an improved cardiac safety profile for patients with MS versus older treatments, such as fingolimod.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) can be a challenging disease to diagnose because of its broad range of symptoms and because of the fact that many other syndromes can mimic MS. Additionally, the McDonald Criteria, which are clinical, radiographic, and laboratory criteria used for diagnosing MS, are sometimes misapplied, according to Andrew Solomon, MD, associate professor of neurological sciences and division chief of multiple sclerosis at Larner College of Medicine, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.

Age is an important factor in the disease burden of multiple sclerosis (MS), as rising age both impacts disease course and brings with it additional risk of comorbidities. However, disease duration may be an even more important factor than age in reaching disability milestones, according to Viktor von Wyl, PhD, project leader, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

While current therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) that treat focal inflammation are beneficial for many patients, there are other crucial aspects of the disease, including brain volume loss, that are not clearly linked to this inflammation and that demand new therapeutic developments, said Jan Hillert, MD, PhD, professor and senior physician in the department of clinical neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Addressing comorbidities plays an important role in the management of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), particularly given their association with hospital admissions. In a study using data from the National Patient Sample, comorbidities were linked with patients’ age, sex, and race and ethnicity, said Deborah Taira, MPA, ScD, professor, Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

Some data suggest that pregnancy may be beneficial in the long-term for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), but there exist periods that may carry an extra risk of relapse, such as before conception and in the postpartum period, according to Marie D’hooghe, MD, PhD, neurologist at the National MS Center, Melsbroek, in Brussels, Belgium, and consultant neurologist at the University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium.

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