Background: We hypothesized that differences in access to disease-modifying treatments (DMTs) could explain the association between socioeconomic status and disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Objective: This study aimed to analyze the association between education level and DMT use in France.
Methods: All patients from OFSEP network with MS onset over 1996-2014 and aged ⩾ 25 years at onset were included.
Background: Studies have reported an association between socioeconomic status and disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS), but findings using the pre-MS individual socioeconomic status are missing.
Objective: The objective was to investigate the association between education level and disability progression.
Methods: All Observatoire Français de la Sclérose en Plaques (OFSEP) patients with MS clinical onset over 1960-2014, and aged ⩾25 years at MS onset were included.
Background And Objectives: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have an increased risk of severe coronavirus infection due to their level of motor disability or exposure to certain immunosuppressive treatments. Thus, patients with MS have had priority access to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination. However, relapses after vaccination have been reported, leading some patients to not seek the recommended booster doses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The availability of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is limited. Thus, there are two paradigms for patients living closer to a primary stroke center (PSC) than a comprehensive stroke center (CSC) capable of MT: "Mothership" (direct referral to a CSC) and "Drip-and-Ship" (referral to a PSC for imaging and thrombolysis and transfer to a CSC for thrombectomy or monitoring). We aimed to compare the prognosis of patients at three months between the two paradigms in a rural area.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The European literature has reported high variability in the incidence and prevalence rates of myasthenia gravis (MG), but no specific epidemiological data for France have been published. This study aimed to assess the incidence and prevalence rates of myasthenia gravis in France based on data extracted from the French National Health Insurance Claims Database (the SNIIRAM database).
Methods: We conducted a retrospective repeated cross-sectional population study from 2008 to 2018 using a representative sample of the French population (Échantillon généraliste des bénéficiaires) covered by health insurance.
Background: Epidemiologic studies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) have focused on the first waves of the pandemic until early 2021.
Objectives: We aimed to extend these data from the onset of the pandemic to the global coverage by vaccination in summer 2022.
Methods: This retrospective, multicenter observational study analyzed COVISEP registry data on reported COVID-19 cases in pwMS between January 2020 and July 2022.
Importance: Radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS) represents the earliest detectable preclinical phase of multiple sclerosis (MS) punctuated by incidental magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) white matter anomalies within the central nervous system.
Objective: To determine the time to onset of symptoms consistent with MS.
Design, Setting, And Participants: From September 2017 to October 2022, this multicenter, double-blind, phase 3, randomized clinical trial investigated the efficacy of teriflunomide in delaying MS in individuals with RIS, with a 3-year follow-up.
Purpose: In the assessment of basic medical knowledge, the composition of the reference panel between specialists and primary care (PC) physicians is a contentious issue. We assessed the effect of panel composition on the scores of undergraduate medical students in a script concordance test (SCT).
Methods: The scale of an SCT on basic nephrology knowledge was set by a panel of nephrologists or a mixed panel of nephrologists and PC physicians.
Importance: In patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), factors associated with severe COVID-19 include anti-CD20 therapies and neurologic disability, but it is still unclear whether these 2 variables are independently associated with severe COVID-19 or whether the association depends on MS clinical course.
Objective: To assess the association between anti-CD20 therapies and COVID-19 severity in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and progressive MS (PMS).
Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter, retrospective cohort study used data from the COVISEP study, which included patients with MS and COVID-19 from February 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022, at 46 French MS expert centers, general hospitals, and private neurology practices.
The treatment strategy in relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) is a complex decision requiring individualization of treatment sequences to maximize clinical outcomes. Current local and international guidelines do not provide specific recommendation on the use of immune reconstitution therapy (IRT) as alternative to continuous immunosuppression in the management of RMS. The objective of the program was to provide consensus-based expert opinion on the optimal use of IRT in the management of RMS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: The question of the long-term safety of pregnancy is a major concern in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), but its study is biased by reverse causation (women with higher disability are less likely to experience pregnancy). Using a causal inference approach, we aimed to estimate the unbiased long-term effects of pregnancy on disability and relapse risk in patients with MS and secondarily the short-term effects (during the perpartum and postpartum years) and delayed effects (occurring beyond 1 year after delivery).
Methods: We conducted an observational cohort study with data from patients with MS followed in the Observatoire Français de la Sclérose en Plaques registry between 1990 and 2020.
Background: The effects of socio-economic status on mortality in patients with multiple sclerosis is not well known. The objective was to examine mortality due to multiple sclerosis according to socio-economic status.
Methods: A retrospective observational cohort design was used with recruitment from 18 French multiple sclerosis expert centers participating in the All patients lived in metropolitan France and had a definite or probable diagnosis of multiple sclerosis according to either Poser or McDonald criteria with an onset of disease between 1960 and 2015.
Rev Neurol (Paris)
December 2022
Background: In clinical practice, the diagnosis of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is often delayed, retrospective and non-reproducible, as there are no consensus criteria that define the advent of SPMS. Early identification of SPMS is essential to improve patient care.
Methods: Eight regional board meetings in France involving 56 multiple sclerosis (MS) experts (neurologists) were convened to discuss diagnostic criteria for SPMS.
Rev Neurol (Paris)
November 2022
Background: Until recently, few therapeutic options, other than symptomatic treatment, were available for patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). Ocrelizumab is the only approved treatment in this indication, and only since 2017. However, many patients in France are receiving off-label treatments for PPMS, mainly rituximab, mycophenolate mofetil, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, and azathioprine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Natalizumab and fingolimod are used as high-efficacy treatments in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Several observational studies comparing these two drugs have shown variable results, using different methods to control treatment indication bias and manage censoring. The objective of this empirical study was to elucidate the impact of methods of causal inference on the results of comparative effectiveness studies.
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