Multiple Sclerosis

The associate professor of Neurology at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University discussed the findings of his presentation at AAN 2021.

The staff neurologist at the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research at Cleveland Clinic spoke to a study using the digital Manual Dexterity Test.

Before first diagnosis, patients with multiple sclerosis had more frequent encounters with medical doctors of different specialties compared to matched controls.

Researchers also found that EDSS score pre-pregnancy was associated with the likelihood of post-partum relapse for patients with multiple sclerosis.

The senior investigator at the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke spoke about new opportunities for research into brain lesions and microglia.

The senior director of patient management, care, and rehabilitation research at the National MS Society discussed symptoms of MS that need more research, as well as other factors impacting care, such as comorbidities.

Results from the ongoing clinical trial will help define clinical management guidelines for switching patients with relapsing MS on other disease-modifying therapies to siponimod.

Kimberly Allen-Philbey, a PhD candidate at the Barts MS Center in London, discussed the advantages of using a personalized dosing schedule of off-label, subcutaneous cladribine.

Findings suggest that the neuroprotective therapeutic response from rituximab in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis may take up to 12 months.

The senior investigator at the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke spoke about further research his lab is conducting into MS mechanisms.

The senior director of patient management, care, and rehabilitation research at the National MS Society discussed symptoms of progressive MS that need more attention and research.

The postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University discussed the use of the DISCO-MS survey and its potential for future research projects.

Ilena George, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, discussed a cohort of patients with early DMT prescription and low rates of clinical conversion.

Treatment with fingolimod followed by alemtuzumab led to an increase in spinal relapses as well as increased risk of secondary autoimmunity.

Yujie Wang, MD, a neurologist from the University of Washington Medical Center, discussed examining the 1-hour post monitoring period of natalizumab infusion amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Annualized relapse rate reduction, fatigue, magnetic resonance imaging activity, brain volume loss, and no evidence of disease activity status were all superior in the ponesimod-treated group.

The senior director of patient management, care, and rehabilitation research at the National MS Society discussed the lack of studies on progressive MS compared to RRMS.

Researchers found significant differences between clinically relevant areas in participants with progressive MS, relapsing MS, and healthy controls.

Stephanie Blandford, MSc, a PhD candidate at Memorial University of Newfoundland, discussed some advantages of using IL-1RA over NfL in predicting disability in multiple sclerosis.

Progressive forms of multiple sclerosis present a number of challenges for MS specialists, the biggest of which being whether or not disease-modifying therapy is required.

The PoNS device becomes the first and only medical device cleared in the US for short-term treatment of gait in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Researchers analyzed levels of sGFAP in participants from the N-MOmentum study that assessed inebilizumab (Uplizna; Viela Bio) in relapsing-remitting MS.

Researchers from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia, found that plasma neurofilament light levels predict no evidence of disease activity status as well as NEDA plus brain volume loss status.

Siponimod (Mayzent; Novartis) improved Symbol Digit Modalities Test scores in patients at 12, 18, and 24 months compared to placebo.

The Novartis agent showed benefit in patients who had multiple sclerosis both with and without relapses.

Novartis’s S1P receptor modulator siponimod (Mayzent) showed benefits in a number of patients with SPMS on the Motor Integration and Collateral subscales of the Expanded Disability Status Scale.

Five-year EXPAND study data suggest that Novartis’s S1P receptor modulator has sustained benefit and delays disability over long-term treatment in patients with SPMS.

The director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health discussed the correlation between age and disease duration in MS, as well as what was learned from a subanalysis of the EXPAND study of siponimod.

Patients with a disease duration of <16 years demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in risk for confirmed disability progression (CDP) at 3 and 6 months.

After showing significant benefits in delayed disease progression in patients with secondary progressive MS, new data suggests siponimod can delay the time to wheelchair dependence by 4 years.