Association of the Cervical Canal Area With Disability and Progression in People With Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: In multiple sclerosis (MS), brain reserve serves as a protective factor against cognitive impairment. Previous research has suggested a structural counterpart in the spine-spinal cord reserve-seemed to be associated with physical disability. This study aimed to investigate the potential of the cervical canal area (CCaA) as a proxy for spinal cord reserve in a multicentric cohort of people with MS (PwMS).

Unveiling preferences in multiple sclerosis care: insights from an Italian discrete-choice experiment with patients and healthcare professionals.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, demyelinating, neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system, significantly impacting patients' quality of life. Understanding patient and healthcare professional (HCP) preferences for MS treatments is crucial for optimizing therapeutic strategies and improving adherence and outcomes. This Discrete-Choice Experiment (DCE) assesses preferences for various MS treatment attributes among Italian patients and HCPs.

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).

Towards a Unified Set of Diagnostic Criteria for Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: The 2017 McDonald criteria continued the separation of diagnostic criteria for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS) for historical, rather than biological, reasons. We aimed to explore the feasibility of a single, unified set of diagnostic criteria when applied to patients with suspected PPMS.

Methods: We retrospectively identified patients evaluated for suspected PPMS at 5 European centers.

Resolving the problem of surface dyslexia in Italian through inflection of irregular verbs.

Surface dyslexia and dysgraphia are considered diagnostic features of semantic variant primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) and are useful signs in English, a language whose attributes afford numerous opportunities to observe these phenomena. This, however, is not the case in many languages, including Italian, that have high transparency between orthography and phonology, making surface reading and spelling errors scarce. This creates a problem in applying the diagnostic recommendations for svPPA in such languages.

Disentangling Neurodegeneration From Aging in Multiple Sclerosis Using Deep Learning: The Brain-Predicted Disease Duration Gap.

Background And Objectives: Disentangling brain aging from disease-related neurodegeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) is increasingly topical. The brain-age paradigm offers a window into this problem but may miss disease-specific effects. In this study, we investigated whether a disease-specific model might complement the brain-age gap (BAG) by capturing aspects unique to MS.

Dynamics of choroid plexus volume is associated with the presence and development of fatigue in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Immune-mediated processes are implicated in the pathogenesis of fatigue, a common symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS). The choroid plexus (CP) regulates central nervous system (CNS) immune homeostasis and undergoes volumetric modifications possibly contributing to MS-related fatigue. We explored the association between MS-related CP volume changes and fatigue dynamics.

Recognizing Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy to avoid delayed diagnosis and misdiagnosis.

Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) is a maternally inherited optic nerve disease primarily caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The peak of onset is typically between 15 and 30 years, but variability exists. Misdiagnosis, often as inflammatory optic neuritis, delays treatment, compounded by challenges in timely genetic diagnosis.

A window into the mind-brain-body interplay: Development of diagnostic, prognostic biomarkers, and rehabilitation strategies in functional motor disorders.

Background And Aims: Functional motor disorders (FMD) present a prevalent, yet misunderstood spectrum of neurological conditions characterized by abnormal movements (i.e., functional limb weakness, tremor, dystonia, gait impairments), leading to substantial disability and diminished quality of life.

Monoaminergic network abnormalities are associated with fatigue in pediatric multiple sclerosis.

Background: Fatigue is commonly observed in pediatric multiple sclerosis (pedMS) patients, but its underlying mechanisms remain largely unexplored. We evaluated whether resting-state (RS) functional connectivity (FC) abnormalities in monoaminergic networks contributed to explain fatigue in pedMS.

Methods: Fifty-five pedMS and twenty-three matched healthy controls (HC) underwent clinical and RS functional MRI assessment.

Assessment of central vein sign and paramagnetic rim lesions in pediatric multiple sclerosis.

The evaluation of white matter lesions (WMLs) showing the central vein sign (CVS) and paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs) has been suggested to enhance the diagnostic work-up of adult multiple sclerosis (MS). We aimed to evaluate the fulfillment of different CVS criteria and the added value of PRLs in 22 pediatric MS patients. Eleven patients (50%) fulfilled the 40%-rule threshold.

Pharmacogenomics of clinical response to Natalizumab in multiple sclerosis: a genome-wide multi-centric association study.

Background: Inter-individual differences in treatment response are marked in multiple sclerosis (MS). This is true for Natalizumab (NTZ), to which a subset of patients displays sub-optimal treatment response. We conducted a multi-centric genome-wide association study (GWAS), with additional pathway and network analysis to identify genetic predictors of response to NTZ.

Effectiveness and safety of monthly versus quarterly fremanezumab for migraine prevention: An Italian, multicenter, real-life study.

Background And Purpose: Fremanezumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the calcitonin gene-related peptide for migraine prevention, is available in monthly (225 mg) and quarterly (675 mg) doses. Previous studies showed efficacy and safety for both regimens, but a real-life comparison is lacking. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of monthly and quarterly fremanezumab in a real-life setting.