Ongoing increase in incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Newcastle, Australia: A 50-year study

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 1063-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Ribbons ◽  
Rodney Lea ◽  
Clare Tiedeman ◽  
Laura Mackenzie ◽  
Jeannette Lechner-Scott

Background: Since 1959, multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence has been estimated for the east coast Australian city of Newcastle. Previous surveys, conducted in 1988 and 2003, have described an increase in the prevalence and incidence of MS. Objectives: In this study, we evaluated whether these trends continue and provide 50 years of MS epidemiological follow-up for this southern hemisphere city. Methods: Expressed per 100,000 people, prevalence of MS in Newcastle was calculated for those with a confirmed diagnosis of MS on 9 August 2011 and incidence based on the number of cases with MS diagnosis made during the preceding decade. Data were age-standardised to the total Australian population. Statistical comparisons were undertaken using Poisson regression analysis. Results: In 2011, the estimate of MS prevalence was 124.2, with female-to-male ratio reaching 3.1, a 53% increase in female predominance since 1996. MS incidence increased to 6.7, with a significantly higher proportion of new female cases since the previous survey. Conclusion: Prevalence of MS in Newcastle has risen linearly and is contributed to by a substantial increase in new cases over the preceding decade. Female predominance of MS cases continues to increase with a new diagnosis three times more likely in women.

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S491-S491
Author(s):  
F. Ellouze ◽  
W. Bouali ◽  
B. Hidouri ◽  
S. Younes ◽  
M. Nasr

IntroductionDepression is the most common syndrome associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) with a high prevalence during a lifetime.ObjectivesTo assess the prevalence of depression in patients treated in neurology for MS.MethodsWe performed a retrospective study on 17 patients diagnosed with MS and confirmed with the criteria of Mac Donalds 2010 with a follow-up in the neurology department of the EPS Mahdia for a period of nine years (2006–2014), then addressed to a psychiatric consultation for depression.ResultsIn total 17 patients were hospitalised in the neurology department during the study. Ages ranged from 20 to 39 years with an average of 33 years. The average course of the disorder is 5 years. We objectified a female predominance with 82%, a professional activity was found in 76% of patients. The comorbidities found are mainly hypertension, diabetes and asthma, respectively in 11%, 5% and 5%. Depression was clinically confirmed in 9 patients, that to say, 52% of our sample addressed in the psychiatric consultation, whose 6 received an antidepressant (fluoxetine) and 3 received paroxetine. An anxiolytic was given to the half of these patients.ConclusionThe association between MS and depression would, therefore, be neither fortuitous nor only related to non-specific factors of any chronic disease. Specifying the relative share of these explanatory factors is probably one of the challenges for future researches in this area.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dejan Jakimovski ◽  
Matthew Topolski ◽  
Kana Kimura ◽  
Virja Pandya ◽  
Bianca Weinstock-Guttman ◽  
...  

Background: Studies have previously shown greater arterial and venous extracranial vascular changes in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) when compared to healthy controls (HCs). Objectives: To determine the change in the number and size of secondary neck vessels in PwMS and HCs over a 5-year follow-up period. Methods: Both at baseline and follow-up, 83 PwMS and 25 HCs underwent magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) imaging and analysis. The number and cross-sectional area (CSA) of all secondary neck vessels (excluding the common/internal carotid, vertebral artery, and internal jugular vein) measured at levels from C2-T1 were determined by semi-automated edge detection/ contouring software. The longitudinal change in the number and CSA of the secondary neck vessels from the PwMS and HCs were analyzed by non-parametric Wilcoxon repeated measure. Benjamini-Hochberg procedure adjusted for false discovery rate (FDR). Results: For over 5 years, PwMS demonstrated a consistent longitudinal decrease in both the number of secondary neck vessels (Z-change between -3.3 and -5.4, q=0.001) and their CSA (Zchange between -2.9 and -5.2, q=0.004). On the contrary, the HCs did not demonstrate a significant longitudinal change in secondary neck vessels over the follow-up period. Due to the longitudinal decrease, the PwMS showed a lower number of secondary neck vessels when compared to HCs measured at follow-up (p<0.029, except for C4 with trending p=0.071). The PwMS changes were also corroborated within each MS phenotype. Conclusion: PwMS demonstrate a significant mid-term decrease in the number and the size of the secondary neck vessels. The clinical relevance of these findings and the effect on intracranial blood flow are currently unknown.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-405
Author(s):  
Andrew R Pines ◽  
Richard J Butterfield ◽  
Evelyn L Turcotte ◽  
Jose O Garcia ◽  
Noel De Lucia ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) refractory to medical management is often treated with microvascular decompression (MVD) involving the intracranial placement of Teflon. The placement of Teflon is an effective treatment, but does apply distributed pressure to the nerve and has been associated with pain recurrence. OBJECTIVE To report the rate of postoperative pain recurrence in TN patients who underwent MVD surgery using a transposition technique with fibrin glue without Teflon. METHODS Patients were eligible for our study if they were diagnosed with TN, did not have multiple sclerosis, and had an offending vessel that was identified and transposed with fibrin glue at our institution. All eligible patients were given a follow-up survey. We used a Kaplan-Meier (KM) model to estimate overall pain recurrence. RESULTS A total of 102 patients met inclusion criteria, of which 85 (83%) responded to our survey. Overall, 76 (89.4%) participants responded as having no pain recurrence. Approximately 1-yr pain-free KM estimates were 94.1% (n = 83), 5-yr pain-free KM estimates were 94.1% (n = 53), and 10-yr pain-free KM estimates were 83.0% (n = 23). CONCLUSION Treatment for TN with an MVD transposition technique using fibrin glue may avoid some cases of pain recurrence. The percentage of patients in our cohort who remained pain free at a maximum of 17 yr follow-up is on the high end of pain-free rates reported by MVD studies using Teflon. These results indicate that a transposition technique that emphasizes removing any compression near the trigeminal nerve root provides long-term pain-free rates for patients with TN.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135245852110002
Author(s):  
Bruce AC Cree ◽  
Jeffrey A Cohen ◽  
Anthony T Reder ◽  
Davorka Tomic ◽  
Diego Silva ◽  
...  

Background: Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) can reduce the risk of disability worsening in patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS). High-efficacy DMTs can lead to confirmed or sustained disability improvement (CDI and SDI). Objective and Methods: Post hoc analyses of data from the TRANSFORMS, FREEDOMS, and FREEDOMS II trials and their extensions assessed the effects of fingolimod (0.5–1.25 mg/day) on stabilizing or improving disability over ⩽8 years in participants with RMS. CDI and SDI rates were compared between participants initially randomized to fingolimod, interferon (IFNβ-1a), or placebo. Results: At 8 years’ follow-up in TRANSFORMS, 35.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 28.2%–43.1%) of assessed participants in the IFNβ-1a–fingolimod switch group and 41.9% (36.6%–47.6%) on continuous fingolimod experienced CDI; disability did not worsen in approximately 70%. Similar results were seen in the combined FREEDOMS population. Proportionally fewer TRANSFORMS participants achieved SDI in the IFNβ-1a–fingolimod switch group than on continuous fingolimod (5.4% [3.0%–9.5%] vs 14.2% [10.8%–18.4%], p = 0.01). Conclusion: CDI and SDI are outcomes of interest for clinical trials and for long-term follow-up of participants with RMS. Monitoring CDI and SDI in addition to disability worsening may facilitate understanding of the therapeutic benefit of RMS treatments.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135245852098130
Author(s):  
Izanne Roos ◽  
Emmanuelle Leray ◽  
Federico Frascoli ◽  
Romain Casey ◽  
J William L Brown ◽  
...  

Background: A delayed onset of treatment effect, termed therapeutic lag, may influence the assessment of treatment response in some patient subgroups. Objectives: The objective of this study is to explore the associations of patient and disease characteristics with therapeutic lag on relapses and disability accumulation. Methods: Data from MSBase, a multinational multiple sclerosis (MS) registry, and OFSEP, the French MS registry, were used. Patients diagnosed with MS, minimum 1 year of exposure to MS treatment and 3 years of pre-treatment follow-up, were included in the analysis. Studied outcomes were incidence of relapses and disability accumulation. Therapeutic lag was calculated using an objective, validated method in subgroups stratified by patient and disease characteristics. Therapeutic lag under specific circumstances was then estimated in subgroups defined by combinations of clinical and demographic determinants. Results: High baseline disability scores, annualised relapse rate (ARR) ⩾ 1 and male sex were associated with longer therapeutic lag on disability progression in sufficiently populated groups: females with expanded disability status scale (EDSS) < 6 and ARR < 1 had mean lag of 26.6 weeks (95% CI = 18.2–34.9), males with EDSS < 6 and ARR < 1 31.0 weeks (95% CI = 25.3–36.8), females with EDSS < 6 and ARR ⩾ 1 44.8 weeks (95% CI = 24.5–65.1), and females with EDSS ⩾ 6 and ARR < 1 54.3 weeks (95% CI = 47.2–61.5). Conclusions: Pre-treatment EDSS and ARR are the most important determinants of therapeutic lag.


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