There are numerous conditions, including many rare and difficult to recognize disorders, which can be mistaken for MS, said 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.
There are numerous conditions, including many rare and difficult to recognize disorders, which can be mistaken for MS, said 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.
Transcript
What are some of the conditions that are commonly misdiagnosed as being MS?
As neurologists, in our training we come to understand that there's this very long list or broad differential diagnosis for MS—there are many disorders, including many rare and difficult to recognize disorders that can be mistaken for MS.
So, while there's many rare and challenging to diagnose disorders that can be mistaken for MS, some of the recent data that we've seen around misdiagnosis and differential diagnosis of MS in referral centers seems to suggest that many common disorders are frequently mistaken for MS. Some of those disorders include things like migraine, small vessel ischemic disease, which is a manifestation often of high blood pressure accompanied by some neurologic symptoms. Functional neurologic disorders may be frequently mistaken for MS, and then there's a number of demyelinating conditions now that we recognize as distinct from MS—neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, myelin oligodendrocytes, glycoprotein myelitis, and optic neuritis associated disorders can be easily mistaken for MS.
By virtue of some of these very common disorders being mistaken for MS, it seems like part of the problem is our diagnostic criteria may not be applied in these situations as rigorously as it should. It seems like there may be either misapplication or misunderstanding of different elements of the McDonald criteria that could lead to misdiagnosis of some of these common disorders for MS.
Increasing Lp(a) Awareness for Better Cardiovascular Health: Dr Mary McGowan
March 24th 2024For Lp(a) Awareness Day, Mary McGowan, MD, FNLA, chief medical officer of the Family Heart Foundation, highlights how most people with elevated Lp(a) are completely unaware that they have this increased risk and calls for increased testing.
Read More
Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
Listen
Distinguishing Biomarkers Identified in MS Outcomes
March 19th 2024Results from this cohort study found that levels of glial fibrillary acid protein, cerebral spinal fluid, and neurofilament heavy chain are distinguishable biomarkers that are associated with disease outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Read More
FDA Issues CRL for Glatiramer Acetate Depot for Relapsing Forms of MS
March 11th 2024The FDA has declined to approve glatiramer acetate (GA) depot in the treatment of relapsing types of multiple sclerosis (MS), issuing a complete response letter (CRL) for the long-acting, injectable form of GA.
Read More
Getting to Know Dr Fabiola Molina, Hospitalist
February 26th 2024Fabiola Molina, MD, MHS, is a practicing hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Hospital. An immigrant from Mexico, her experiences straddling 2 worlds, while attempting to navigate with her family the complicated safety-net system for health care in Texas, were key influences to her ardent focus on health equity.
Read More