Search results for "Multiple sclerosis"
showing 10 items of 630 documents
Quantitative EEG differentiates multiple sclerosis with and without cognitive impairment from healthy controls at the beginning of the disease: preli…
2018
Background and aims: The present study aims to assess possible qEEG differences between newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with or without cognitive impairment (CI). Methods: We enrolled 22 patients (18-55-years-old) treated with first-line drugs for <6 months, and 11 healthy controls. All subjects underwent neuropsychological assessment including BICAMS and BDI. EEG recordings were performed during a cognitive task (computerised “SDMT” subtest of BICAMS) and at rest. Based on neuropsychological assessment, patients were considered as affected (MSCI group) or not (MS group) by cognitive impairment. We analysed data comparing MSCI patients matched by sex, age (±5years) and e…
Clinical Onset and Multiple Sclerosis Relapse after SARS-CoV-2 Infection
2021
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has been associated with several neurological disorders including headache, facial palsy, encephalitis, stroke, demyelinating disorders. The present report will discuss cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) onset and relapse both beginning early after SARS-CoV-2 infection. In both cases, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed widespread bilateral subcortical and periventricular active lesions. Serum IgG against SARS-CoV-2 Spike antigens confirmed seroconversion with titers that are considered not definitely protective against possible reinfection. We hypothesize that SARS-CoV-2 infection, as previously reported for other vir…
Off-Adherence Keeping (OAK) observational study: intentional off-adherence immunomodulatory multiple sclerosis treatment
2022
Aims: To evaluate how improved treatment adherence with a lower-frequency regimen/treatment of intramuscular (IM) IFN beta-1a impacts therapeutic effectiveness in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients switching from a higher-frequency injectable regimen/treatment. Patients & methods: Italian patients with relapsing-remitting MS and prior poor adherence to high-frequency injectable treatments (n = 181) were followed for 24 months after starting IM IFN beta-1a. Results: During the study, 97.4% of patients were treatment adherent; 22.1% of patients reported a relapse. The estimated probability of remaining relapse-free after 2 years was 78%. A high dropout rate (52.5%) led t…
Retinal abnormalities in multiple sclerosis patients with associated chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency
2012
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive method for the assessment of optic nerve fibers and retinal ganglion cells. This study was aimed at the assessment of retinal abnormalities in multiple sclerosis patients in the context of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency using OCT of the retina and the optic nerve. We examined 239 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, including 220 patients with associated chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and 19 MS patients without venous pathology. The following OCT parameters were assessed: average ganglion cell complex thickness, global loss volume, focal loss volume and average retinal nerve fibre layer thickness. Abnormalities in the…
Treatment approaches to patients with multiple sclerosis and coexisting autoimmune disorders.
2021
The past decades have yielded major therapeutic advances in many autoimmune conditions – such as multiple sclerosis (MS) – and thus ushered in a new era of more targeted and increasingly potent immunotherapies. Yet this growing arsenal of therapeutic immune interventions has also rendered therapy much more challenging for the attending physician, especially when treating patients with more than one autoimmune condition. Importantly, some therapeutic strategies are either approved for several autoimmune disorders or may be repurposed for other conditions, therefore opening new curative possibilities in related fields. In this article, we especially focus on frequent and therapeutically rele…
Comparable efficacy and safety of dimethyl fumarate and teriflunomide treatment in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: an Italian real-word multi…
2018
BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to evaluate the achievement of 'no evidence of disease activity' (NEDA) over a 12-month period in a large multicenter population with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) treated with delayed-release dimethyl fumarate (DMF) and teriflunomide (TRF) using a propensity-score adjustment. METHODS: A time-to-event method was used to determine the percentages of patients with RRMS (pwRRMS) in both groups achieving NEDA 3 (no relapses, no 12-week confirmed disability progression, and no new T2/gadolinium-enhancing brain lesions). We described the safety profile of the investigated drugs. RESULTS: Of the 587 pwRRMS treated with DMF and the 316 pwRRMS tre…
Microchimerism in multiple sclerosis: The association between sex of offspring and MRI features in women with multiple sclerosis
2023
AimsDuring pregnancy, fetal cells can migrate to the mother via blood circulation. A percentage of these cells survive in maternal tissues for decades generating a population of fetal microchimeric cells (fMCs), whose biological role is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the sex of offspring, an indirect marker of fMCs, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features in women with multiple sclerosis (MS).MethodsWe recruited 26 nulliparous MS patients (NPp), 20 patients with at least one male son (XYp), and 8 patients with only daughters (XXp). Each patient underwent brain MR scan to acquire 3D-T2w FLAIR FatSat and 3D-T1w FSPGR/TFE. Lesion Segmentation To…
Sex-specific signatures of intrinsic hippocampal networks and regional integrity underlying cognitive status in multiple sclerosis
2021
Abstract The hippocampus is an anatomically compartmentalized structure embedded in highly wired networks that are essential for cognitive functions. The hippocampal vulnerability has been postulated in acute and chronic neuroinflammation in multiple sclerosis, while the patterns of occurring inflammation, neurodegeneration or compensation have not yet been described. Besides focal damage to hippocampal tissue, network disruption is an important contributor to cognitive decline in multiple sclerosis patients. We postulate sex-specific trajectories in hippocampal network reorganization and regional integrity and address their relationship to markers of neuroinflammation, cognitive/memory per…
Serum Vitamin D as a Biomarker in Autoimmune, Psychiatric and Neurodegenerative Diseases.
2022
Vitamin D is a steroid hormone regulating calcium-phosphorus homeostasis, immune response and brain function. In the past thirty years, an increasing number of cohort studies, meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials (RTCs) evaluated the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], which is considered the Vitamin D status biomarker, in patients affected by neurological, psychiatric and autoimmune diseases. Although an association between low 25(OH)D serum levels and the prevalence of these diseases has been found, it is still unclear whether the serum 25(OH)D measurement can be clinically useful as a biomarker for diagnosis, prognosis and predicting treatment response in neurodegene…
The Effects of Transcutaneous Spinal Direct Current Stimulation on Neuropathic Pain in Multiple Sclerosis: Clinical and Neurophysiological Assessment
2019
Background: Central neuropathic pain represents one of the most common symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) and it seriously affects quality of life. Spinal mechanisms may contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain in MS. Converging evidence from animal models and neurophysiological and clinical studies in humans suggests a potential effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tc-DCS) on neuropathic pain. Spinal application of DCS, i.e., transcutaneous spinal DCS (ts-DCS), may modulate nociception through inhibition of spinal reflexes. Therefore, ts-DCS could represents an effective, safe and well-tolerated treatment for neuropathic pain in MS, a largely unexplored topic. This…