0000000000085482

AUTHOR

Valentina Tomassini

showing 10 related works from this author

A multicenter survey on access to care in Multiple Sclerosis-related trigeminal neuralgia

2021

The prevalence of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is higher than in the general population and its management can be particularly challenging due to a number of reasons including high recurrence rates, lack of MS-specific treatment guidelines and uncertainties about pain pathophysiology. Aim of this cross-sectional, multicentre survey was to gather information on the current treatment modalities and options of MS-related TN across 23 Italian MS centres. Initial medical management (carbamazepine or oxcarbazepine) of MS-related TN was fairly homogeneous throughout Italian centres. The most commonly available surgical procedure was microvascular decompression…

medicine.medical_specialtyMultiple Sclerosismultiple sclerosis; trigeminal neuralgiaCross-sectional studymedicine.medical_treatmentPopulationMicrovascular decompressionHealth Services Accessibility03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineRetrospective StudieTrigeminal neuralgiaMultiple SclerosimedicineHumans030212 general & internal medicineIntensive care medicineeducationOxcarbazepineRetrospective StudiesCross-Sectional Studieeducation.field_of_studybusiness.industryMultiple sclerosisRetrospective cohort studyTrigeminal Neuralgiamedicine.diseaseCross-Sectional StudiesTreatment OutcomeItalyNeurologyMulticenter surveyNeurology (clinical)businessMultiple Sclerosis; Trigeminal neuralgia; Cross-Sectional Studies; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Italy; Retrospective Studies; Treatment Outcome; Multiple Sclerosis; Trigeminal NeuralgiaTrigeminal neuralgia030217 neurology & neurosurgeryHumanmedicine.drugJournal of the Neurological Sciences
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mRNA COVID-19 vaccines do not increase the short-term risk of clinical relapses in multiple sclerosis

2021

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, immune-mediated disorder of the central nervous system. A novel coronavirus, namely SARS-CoV-2, has been recently responsible for the highly infectious disease referred as COVID-19, rapidly spreading all over the world. Many vaccines have been developed to control COVID-19 pandemic, including the mRNA vaccines Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2) and Moderna (mRNA1273).1 The vaccination of people with MS (pwMS) has been recommended by several national and international MS societies. However, effectiveness and safety of anti-COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in MS need to be confirmed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term risk of clinical relapses in pwMS in …

Pediatricsmedicine.medical_specialtyeducation.field_of_studyExpanded Disability Status ScaleCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)business.industryMultiple sclerosisCOVID-19; multiple sclerosis; neuroimmunologyPopulationCOVID-19neuroimmunologymedicine.diseasemultiple sclerosisVaccinationPsychiatry and Mental healthInfectious disease (medical specialty)multiple sclerosiPandemicmedicineSurgeryObservational studymultiple sclerosis neuroimmunology COVID-19Neurology (clinical)businesseducation
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Harmonization of real-world studies in multiple sclerosis: Retrospective analysis from the rirems group

2020

Background: Worldwide multiple sclerosis (MS) centers have coordinated their efforts to use data acquired in clinical practice for real-world observational studies. In this retrospective study, we aim to harmonize outcome measures, and to evaluate their heterogeneity within the Rising Italian Researchers in MS (RIReMS) study group. Methods: RIReMS members filled in a structured questionnaire evaluating the use of different outcome measures in clinical practice. Thereafter, thirty-four already-published papers from RIReMS centers were used for heterogeneity analyses, using the DerSimonian and Laird random-effects method to compute the between-study variance (τ2). Results: Based on questionna…

AdultLongitudinal studymedicine.medical_specialtyHarmonizationOutcome measuresMultiple sclerosisOutcome measure03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineHarmonization; Multiple sclerosis; Outcome measures; Real worldmedicineHumansMultiple sclerosi030212 general & internal medicineAge of OnsetAgedRetrospective StudiesExpanded Disability Status Scalebusiness.industryMultiple sclerosisOutcome measuresRetrospective cohort studyReal worldGeneral MedicineVariance (accounting)medicine.diseaseNeurologyItalyHarmonizationFamily medicineObservational studyFemaleNeurology (clinical)business030217 neurology & neurosurgeryHarmonization; Multiple sclerosis; Outcome measures; Real world; Adult; Age of Onset; Aged; Female; Humans; Italy; Retrospective Studies; Multiple Sclerosis
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Real world experience with teriflunomide in multiple sclerosis: the TER-Italy study.

2021

Objective: To identify baseline factors associated with disease activity in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) under teriflunomide treatment. Methods: This was an independent, multi-centre, retrospective post-marketing study. We analysed data of 1,507 patients who started teriflunomide since October 2014 and were regularly followed in 28 Centres in Italy. We reported the proportions of patients who discontinued treatment (after excluding 32 lost to follow-up) and who experienced clinical disease activity, i.e., relapse(s) and/or confirmed disability worsening, as assessed by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). Decision tree-based analysis was performed to i…

medicine.medical_specialtyNeurologyMultiple SclerosisToluidinesHydroxybutyratesOral drugsDiseaseRelapsing-RemittingSettore MED/26Pregnancy planning03 medical and health scienceschemistry.chemical_compound0302 clinical medicineMultiple Sclerosis Relapsing-RemittingInternal medicineTeriflunomideTeriflunomideNitrilesmedicineHumans030212 general & internal medicineAdverse effectRetrospective StudiesExpanded Disability Status Scalebusiness.industryMultiple sclerosismedicine.diseaseSettore MED/26 - NEUROLOGIANeurologychemistryTolerabilityItalyMultiple sclerosis; Oral drugs; Teriflunomide; Crotonates; Humans; Hydroxybutyrates; Italy; Nitriles; Retrospective Studies; Toluidines; Multiple Sclerosis; Multiple Sclerosis Relapsing-RemittingCrotonatesNeurology (clinical)business030217 neurology & neurosurgeryJournal of neurology
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Characteristics and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis-related trigeminal neuralgia: An Italian multi-centre study

2019

Abstract Background The prevalence of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients is higher than in the general population and its management can be particularly challenging. Our aim is to describe the characteristics, treatment and prognostic factors of MS-related TN in a retrospective multicentre study. Methods Neurologists members of the RIREMS group (Rising Researchers in MS) enrolled MS patients with a TN diagnosis and filled out a spreadsheet comprising their clinical data. Results Population consisted of 298 patients. First-choice preventive treatments were carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine. A surgical procedure was performed in 81 (30%) patients, most commonly gamma …

Pediatricsmedicine.medical_treatmentmultiple sclerosismicrovascular decompression surgerytime factors0302 clinical medicineRadiofrequency thermocoagulationTrigeminal neuralgiaMultiple SclerosiOutcome Assessment Health Careitalymiddle agedpain030212 general & internal medicineOxcarbazepinehumanseducation.field_of_studytrigeminal neuralgiaadultDisability; Multiple Sclerosis; Pain; Trigeminal neuralgiaradiosurgeryGeneral MedicineAnalgesics Non-Narcotichealth carefollow-up studiesSettore MED/26 - NEUROLOGIAagedretrospective studiesfemaleNeurologydisability; multiple sclerosis; pain; trigeminal neuralgia; adult; aged; analgesics non-narcotic; female; follow-up studies; humans; italy; male; microvascular decompression surgery; middle aged; multiple sclerosis; radiosurgery; retrospective studies; severity of illness index; sex factors; time factors; trigeminal neuralgia; neurosurgical procedures; outcome assessment health careanalgesicsTrigeminal neuralgiamedicine.drugmedicine.medical_specialtyMultiple SclerosisPopulationPainMicrovascular decompression03 medical and health sciencesmalemedicineseverity of illness indexeducationoutcome assessmentDisabilitybusiness.industryMultiple sclerosisCarbamazepinemedicine.diseaseneurosurgical proceduresDiscontinuationsex factorsdisabilitynon-narcoticNeurology (clinical)business030217 neurology & neurosurgery
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A cross-sectional, multicentre study of the therapeutic management of multiple sclerosis relapses in Italy.

2013

Despite the existence of therapeutic guidelines, management of multiple sclerosis relapse remains heterogeneous. Optimisation of relapse outcome demands an improved understanding of the neurologist's therapeutic attitude towards relapse management, which is the aim of this study. Neurologists from 13 multiple sclerosis centres completed a questionnaire every time they assessed multiple sclerosis relapses. The questionnaire requested a guided description of the relapse's clinical characteristics and an indication of the prescribed therapy, supported with up to 3 out of 20 suggested reasons. Over 3 months, 368 questionnaires were collected. Median percentage (%) of 21 relapses resulting in a …

MalePediatricsNeurologyCross-sectional studymulti center studyAdrenal Cortex HormoneAdrenal Cortex HormonesRecurrenceSurveys and QuestionnairesMultiple SclerosiCorticosteroidSurveys and QuestionnaireRelapseSurveyNeuroradiologyGeneral MedicineMiddle AgedManagementPsychiatry and Mental healthMethylprednisoloneItalyNeurologyPsychiatry and Mental Healthmultiple sclerosiSettore MED/26 - NeurologiaFemaleNeurosurgerymedicine.drugHumanAdultmedicine.medical_specialtyMultiple SclerosisDermatologyMethylprednisolonemedicineHumansMedical prescriptionCross-Sectional Studietherapybusiness.industryMultiple sclerosismedicine.diseaseManagement of multiple sclerosisCross-Sectional StudiesHealth Care SurveyHealth Care SurveysPhysical therapyNeurology (clinical)business2708
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A multicentRE observational analysiS of PErsistenCe to Treatment in the new multiple sclerosis era: the RESPECT study.

2018

In this independent, multicenter, retrospective study, we investigated the short-term persistence to treatment with first-line self-injectable or oral disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Data of patients regularly attending 21 Italian MS Centres who started a self-injectable or an oral DMT in 2015 were collected to: (1) estimate the proportion of patients discontinuing the treatment; (3) explore reasons for discontinuation; (3) identify baseline predictors of treatment discontinuation over a follow-up period of 12 months. We analyzed data of 1832 consecutive patients (1289 women, 543 men); 374 (20.4%) of them discontinued the prescrib…

MaleInjectionTime FactorsPatient Dropoutdisease-modifying therapies; multiple sclerosis; outcome measurement; persistence to treatment; quality of lifeAdministration OralSelf AdministrationSex FactorKaplan-Meier EstimateRelapsing-Remittingmultiple sclerosisImmunologic Factor0302 clinical medicineQuality of lifeRetrospective StudieRisk FactorsMedicine030212 general & internal medicineDisease-modifying therapiedisease-modifying therapiesDisease-modifying therapies Multiple sclerosis Outcome measurement Persistence to treatment Quality of life Administration Oral Adult; Female Follow-Up Studies Humans Immunologic Factors Injections Kaplan-Meier EstimateMale Multiple Sclerosis Relapsing-Remitting Patient Dropouts Prognosis Proportional Hazards Models Retrospective Studies Risk Factors Self Administration Sex Factors Time FactorsHazard ratioPrognosisNeurologyTolerabilityAdministrationSettore MED/26 - NeurologiaFemaleoutcome measurementHumanOralAdultmedicine.medical_specialtyPatient DropoutsTime FactorPrognosiFollow-Up StudieInjections03 medical and health sciencesRoute of administrationMultiple Sclerosis Relapsing-RemittingSex FactorsInternal medicineHumansImmunologic FactorsMultiple sclerosiAdverse effectProportional Hazards ModelsRetrospective Studiesbusiness.industryProportional hazards modelRisk FactorRetrospective cohort studyDiscontinuationDisease-modifying therapies; Multiple sclerosis; Outcome measurement; Persistence to treatment; Quality of life; Administration Oral; Adult; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Immunologic Factors; Injections; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Multiple Sclerosis Relapsing-Remitting; Patient Dropouts; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Self Administration; Sex Factors; Time Factorsquality of lifeProportional Hazards Modelpersistence to treatmentNeurology (clinical)business030217 neurology & neurosurgeryFollow-Up StudiesJournal of neurology
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Defining the course of tumefactive multiple sclerosis: A large retrospective multicentre study

2021

Background and purpose: Tumefactive multiple sclerosis (TuMS) (i.e., MS onset presenting with tumefactive demyelinating lesions [TDLs]) is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We performed a multicentre retrospective study to describe the clinical characteristics and the prognostic factors of TuMS. Methods: One hundred two TuMS patients were included in this retrospective study. Demographic, clinical, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), laboratory data and treatment choices were collected. Results: TuMS was found to affect women more than men (female:male: 2.4), with a young adulthood onset (median age: 29.5 years, range: 11–68 years, interquartile range [IQR]: 38 years). At onset, 52% of …

Maletumefactive demyelinating lesions (TDLs)0302 clinical medicineRetrospective StudieInterquartile rangedifferential diagnosis030212 general & internal medicineProspective StudiesYoung adultProspective cohort studyChildtreatmentTumefactive multiple sclerosiTumefactive demyelinating lesionsDemyelinating DiseaseMiddle AgedMagnetic Resonance ImagingDifferential diagnosis Multiple sclerosis Tumefactive demyelinating lesions Tumefactive multiple sclerosisNeurologydifferential diagnosis; Multiple sclerosis; Tumefactive demyelinating lesions; Tumefactive multiple sclerosisFemaleHumanAdultmedicine.medical_specialtyMultiple SclerosisAdolescentdifferential diagnosiSettore MED/26Multiple sclerosis03 medical and health sciencesYoung AdultTumefactive multiple sclerosisOligoclonal BandInternal medicinemedicineHumansMultiple sclerosiTumefactive multiple sclerosisTumefactive multiple sclerosis (TuMS)AgedRetrospective StudiesTumefactive demyelinating lesionExpanded Disability Status Scalebusiness.industryOligoclonal BandsRetrospective cohort studyOdds ratiomedicine.diseaseConfidence intervalProspective Studiedifferential diagnosis; Multiple sclerosis; Tumefactive demyelinating lesions; Tumefactive multiple sclerosis; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Child; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Oligoclonal Bands; Prospective Studies; Retrospective Studies; Young Adult; Demyelinating Diseases; Multiple SclerosisprognosisNeurology (clinical)business030217 neurology & neurosurgeryDemyelinating Diseases
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Informing MS patients on treatment options: a consensus on the process of consent taking

2020

Abstract\ud In the last years, change in multiple sclerosis (MS) therapeutic scenario has highlighted the need for an improved doctor-patient communication in advance of treatment initiation in order to allow patient’s empowerment in the decision-making process.\ud Aims\ud The aims of our project were to review the strategies used by Italian MS specialists to inform patients about treatment options and to design a multicentre shared document that homogenizes the information about disease-modifying treatment (DMTs) and the procedure of taking informed consent in clinical practice.\ud Results\ud The new resource, obtained by consensus among 31 neurologists from 27 MS Centres in Italy with the…

medicine.medical_specialtyConsensusProcess (engineering)media_common.quotation_subjectDermatologyDisease modifying treatment; Informed consent; Multiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosis03 medical and health sciences0302 clinical medicineResource (project management)Informed consentDisease modifying treatmentmedicineHumans030212 general & internal medicineInformed consentEmpowermentmedia_commonPhysician-Patient Relationsbusiness.industryTreatment optionsGeneral MedicineClinical PracticePsychiatry and Mental healthItalyFamily medicineDisease modifying treatment; Informed consent; Multiple sclerosis; Consensus; Humans; Italy; Physician-Patient Relations; Informed Consent; Multiple SclerosisSettore MED/26 - NeurologiaNeurology (clinical)Decision processbusiness030217 neurology & neurosurgery
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Thyroid autoimmunity and dysfunction in multiple sclerosis patients during long-term treatment with interferon beta or glatiramer acetate: an Italian…

2014

Few long-term follow-up data are available on thyroid dysfunction (TD) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated with glatiramer acetate (GA) or with interferon-beta (IFNb). In a cohort of 787 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients whom were followed up for 8 years, we observed an increased prevalence of TD and thyroid autoimmunity (TA) within the first year of IFNb treatment, regardless of the dose or frequency of administration, while no change was observed with GA treatment. The increased prevalence of TD and TA within the first year of IFNb treatment suggested the need for close monitoring of thyroid function and autoimmunity, though only during the first year of IFNb treatment. © Th…

MaleTime FactorsThyroid GlandAutoimmunityAdverse effectmedicine.disease_causemultiple sclerosisGastroenterologythyroidAutoimmunityImmunosuppressive AgentRisk FactorsRetrospective StudiePrevalenceinterferon betaThyroidadverse effects; autoimmunity; glatiramer acetate; interferon beta; thyroid; multiple sclerosisMiddle AgedTreatment Outcomemedicine.anatomical_structureItalyNeurologymultiple sclerosiThyroid autoimmunityCohortFemaleSettore MED/26 - NeurologiaThyroid functionImmunosuppressive AgentsInterferon beta-1aHumanInterferon beta-1bmedicine.drugAdultmedicine.medical_specialtyTime FactorThyroid DiseaseRisk AssessmentYoung AdultMultiple Sclerosis Relapsing-RemittingInternal medicinemedicineHumansGlatiramer acetateAdverse effectRetrospective Studiesbusiness.industryRisk FactorMultiple sclerosisGlatiramer Acetatemedicine.diseaseThyroid DiseasesImmunologyadverse effectsNeurology (clinical)business
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