De-escalating and discontinuing disease-modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis.

The development of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has been highly successful in recent decades. It is now widely accepted that early initiation of DMTs after disease onset is associated with a better long-term prognosis. However, the question of when and how to de-escalate or discontinue DMTs remains open and critical.

Brief international cognitive assessment for MS (BICAMS) and NEDA maintenance in MS patients: A 2-year follow-up longitudinal study.

Background: The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) has been validated in many cross-sectional studies. However, longitudinal data on BICAMS subset trajectories and their correlation with disease activity during follow-up are scarce.

Objectives: We aimed to (i) assess BICAMS changes in MS patients initiating high-efficacy disease-modifying-treatments (DMTs), (ii) compare these changes based on maintenance of "no-evidence-of-disease-activity" (NEDA-3) status over 24 months, and (iii) determine baseline clinical parameters predictive of cognitive changes.

Heterogeneity of aerobic fitness changes with exercise training in progressive multiple sclerosis: Secondary, exploratory analysis of data from the CogEx trial.

Background: There is heterogeneity of aerobic fitness (VO) changes with a standardized exercise training stimulus in the general population (i.e. some participants demonstrate improvements, others no change, and some a reduction in VO).

Associations between fatigue impact and physical and neurobehavioural factors: An exploration in people with progressive multiple sclerosis.

Background: Fatigue is common in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Understanding the relationship between fatigue, physical and neurobehavioural factors is important to inform future research and practice. Few studies explore this explicitly in people with progressive MS (pwPMS).

Active and non-active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis patients exhibit similar disability progression: results of an Italian MS registry study (ASPERA).

'Active' and 'non-active' secondary progressive MS (SPMS) have distinct pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical characteristics, but there is still no consensus regarding the frequency of these MS forms in the real-world setting. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of 'active' and 'non-active' SPMS in a large cohort of Italian MS patients and the differences in terms of clinical and MRI characteristics and disease progression. This multicenter study collected data about MS patients who have transitioned to the SP form in the period between 1st January 2014 and 31st December 2019 and followed by the MS centers contributing to the Italian MS Registry.