Barriers to Early Diagnosis and Access to Care in Multiple Sclerosis: Ethel Ciampi, MD, MSc

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"What was very positive is that awareness of the new criteria is increasing. Time and effort are being invested in educating neurologists about early MS symptoms, so they can suspect it early and apply the new diagnostic criteria correctly."

A hot topic session chaired by neurology experts Bassem I. Yamout, MD, and Sasitorn Siritho, MD, at the 2025 European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) Congress, held September 24-26, in Barcelona, Spain, covered diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of multiple sclerosis (MS) around the world. At the beginning of the session, neurologist Ethel Ciampi, MD, MSc, discussed access to diagnostic procedures for patients with suspected MS, highlighting global disparities in MRI availability, specialist care, and implementation of updated diagnostic criteria.¹

Further into the session, neuroimmunology expert Deanna Saylor, MD, MHS, presented on real-world insights into the World Health Organization’s essential medicines list for MS, emphasizing differences in accessibility and practical challenges across health care systems. Lastly, Siritho addressed difficulties in monitoring disease evolution, including limitations in longitudinal assessments and variability in clinical and paraclinical follow-up practices. Overall, this hop topic session underscored regional differences in MS care and the ongoing need to optimize timely diagnosis, treatment access, and disease monitoring worldwide.

In an interview at the Congress with NeurologyLive^®, Ciampi, an associate professor at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, highlighted the global challenges patients face in obtaining timely MS diagnosis, noting that delays often occur before a specialist is consulted. She emphasized that these barriers vary across regions and health care settings, including differences in access to imaging, trained neurologists, and diagnostic tools. Although updated diagnostic criteria offer more advanced approaches, she noted that their adoption is uneven, and clinicians may require additional training to apply them effectively. Ciampi also stressed the importance of early recognition to enable prompt treatment and help prevent disease progression.

Click here for more coverage of ECTRIMS 2025.

REFERENCES
1. Ciampi E. Access to diagnostic procedures in suspected MS. Presented at ECTRIMS Congress; September 24-26, 2025; Barcelona, Spain. Hot Topic 5: MS around the world - diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.