Disparities by Race in Pregnancy Care and Clinical Outcomes in Women With Multiple Sclerosis: A Diverse Multicenter Cohort.

Background And Objectives: Racial disparities exist in both neurologic and obstetric populations, underscoring the importance of evaluating pregnancy outcomes in diverse women with multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective of this multicenter retrospective study was to compare pregnancy care and outcomes between Black and Hispanic (underrepresented) and White women with MS.

Methods: Demographic and clinical data were extracted from medical records of 9 US MS centers for women with MS/clinically isolated syndrome who delivered live births between 2010 and 2021.

Depression symptoms and cognition in multiple sclerosis: Longitudinal evidence of a specific link to executive control.

Background: Depression symptoms are prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS) and associated with poorer cognition in cross-sectional studies; it is unknown whether changes in depression symptoms track with cognitive changes longitudinally.

Objective: Investigate whether changes in depression symptoms correspond with cognitive changes over time in MS, and identify specific cognitive functions related to depression symptoms.

Method: Persons with early relapse-onset MS ( = 165) completed a depression questionnaire (Beck Depression Inventory FastScreen) and tests of cognitive speed, executive control, and memory at baseline and 3-year follow-up.

Differential diagnosis of Mendelian and mitochondrial disorders in patients with suspected multiple sclerosis.

Several single gene disorders share clinical and radiologic characteristics with multiple sclerosis and have the potential to be overlooked in the differential diagnostic evaluation of both adult and paediatric patients with multiple sclerosis. This group includes lysosomal storage disorders, various mitochondrial diseases, other neurometabolic disorders, and several other miscellaneous disorders. Recognition of a single-gene disorder as causal for a patient's 'multiple sclerosis-like' phenotype is critically important for accurate direction of patient management, and evokes broader genetic counselling implications for affected families.

Diagnosis and differential diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Purpose Of Review: When a patient presents with symptoms or imaging suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS), making the correct diagnosis may at times be straightforward but in many cases is quite challenging. Symptoms may be difficult for patients to characterize and for clinicians to interpret; findings on examination may be subtle; imaging is not always specific; and the differential diagnosis of possible demyelinating disease is quite broad. Making a correct diagnosis of MS early in the disease course is likely to become even more important over time as new disease-modifying therapies, particularly those with potential neuroprotective benefits, are introduced.