Neuromyelitis optica is an HLA associated disease different from Multiple Sclerosis: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Neuromyelitis Optica and Multiple Sclerosis are idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system that currently are considered distinct autoimmune diseases, so differences in genetic susceptibility would be expected. This study aimed to investigate the HLA association with Neuromyelitis Optica by a systematic review with meta-analysis. The STROBE instrument guided research paper assessments.

Latin American consensus recommendations for management and treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders in clinical practice.

Background: During the last two decades, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) has undergone important changes, with new diagnostic markers and criteria, better recognition of clinical phenotypes, better disease prognosis and new therapeutic approaches. Consequently, management of NMOSD patients in Latin American (LATAM) has become more complex and challenging in clinical practice. In making these consensus recommendations, the aim was to review how the disease should be managed and treated among LATAM patients, in order to improve long-term outcomes in these populations.

State of the Art and Future Challenges in Multiple Sclerosis Research and Medical Management: An Insight into the 5th International Porto Congress of Multiple Sclerosis.

The 5th International Porto Congress of Multiple Sclerosis took place between the 14th and 16th of February 2019 in Porto, Portugal. Its intensive programme covered a wide-range of themes-including many of the hot topics, challenges, pitfalls and yet unmet needs in the field of multiple sclerosis (MS)-led by a number of well-acknowledged world experts. This meeting review summarizes the talks that took place during the congress, which focussed on issues in MS as diverse as the development and challenges of progressive MS, epidemiology, differential diagnosis, medical management, molecular research and imaging tools.

Is Asian type MS an MS phenotype, an NMO spectrum disorder, or a MOG-IgG related disease?

Background: A specific particularity of neurological diseases in Asia is the relative commonality of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and Asian type MS (OSMS). Both conditions also occur in South American patients. The Brazilian population differs from the European and the Asian populations due to the mixture of ancestralities between European colonizers and African slaves.

Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence, in some cities in Brazil, was estimated and was found to range from 0.75 to 30.7/100,000.

Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis in Rio de Janeiro: Secondary Progression and Disability.

Background: The onset of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2% to 10% of cases occurs prior to 18 years of age. Early age onset appears to affect some aspects of multiple sclerosis. The objective of our study was to evaluate the prevalence, the clinical and demographic characteristics, and the disease progression in a sample of pediatric multiple sclerosis patients from a mixed population.

Familial multiple sclerosis in a Brazilian sample: Is HLA-DR15 involved in susceptibility to the disease?

Background: The HLA-DR15 extended haplotype HLA-DRB1*15:01-DQA1*01:02-DQB1*06:02 comprises the strongest genetic risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this work was to investigate whether HLA-DR15 alleles were significantly associated with the susceptibility to MS familial forms (MSf) in an admixed Brazilian population.

Methods: Association analyses between DR15 and the clinical and demographic variables were made.

Case Report: Acute Transverse Myelitis after Zika Virus Infection.

We report here one case of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection associated with auto-immunity directed against the central nervous system in a Brazilian woman who developed acute transverse myelitis 9 days after recovery from an acute episode of fever with generalized erythema. Imaging of the spinal cord showed an elongated area on the T1-T10 level with gadolinium uptake. The diagnostic of the ZIKV infection was confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid and serum analysis.

Lower frequency of antibodies to MOG in Brazilian patients with demyelinating diseases: An ethnicity influence?

Objective: Antibodies against Myelin Oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-Ab) have been investigated as potential biological marker for neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and high-risk syndromes (HR) negative for AQP4-Ab in populations with different ethnic background. We tested AQP4 and MOG antibodies in a Brazilian population with high African ethnic background.

Method: The study population was composed of adult patients from Rio de Janeiro with inflammatory demyelinating diseases (new and old cases).

Normative values of the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests in a Brazilian population sample: discrete and regression-based norms.

Objective Cognitive dysfunction is common in multiple sclerosis. The Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRB-N) was developed to assess cognitive functions most-frequently impaired in multiple sclerosis. However, normative values are lacking in Brazil.

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor with and without neurofibromatosis type 1.

Objective: In this study, we review the institution's experience in treating malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs). A secondary aim was to compare outcomes between MPNSTs with and without neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).

Methods: Ninety-two patients with MPNSTs, over a period of 20 years, were reviewed.

Neuromyelitis optica: phenotypic characteristics in a Brazilian case series.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of 34 Brazilian NMO patients. To evaluate the contribution of the 2015 criteria to the diagnosis of NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD) in 40 patients with longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis (LEMT).

Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive and analytic study.

Risk factors for convertion to clinically defined multiple sclerosis after clinically isolated syndrome in a racially mixed Brazilian cohort.

Unlabelled: Clinically isolated syndrome may reflect the first symptom of Multiple Sclerosis. Though more prevalent in Caucasians, MS can also affect Afrodescendts. Modifying disease drugs can delay convertion to clinically defined multiple sclerosis, therefore, identify patients at a higher risk of convertion is important.

Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis in the City of Volta Redonda - Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Using the Capture-Recapture Method.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence in Latin America was estimated in some regions and it was found to range from 0.75 to 30/100,000. The reasons for variation in rates of prevalence around the world still are not clear, but there are environmental and genetic explanations to this phenomenon.

Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Brazil: A systematic review.

Epidemiological studies of multiple sclerosis (MS) conducted in Latin America have revealed prevalence rates of this disease from low to medium. The aim of this study was to gather and analyze surveys on prevalence conducted in Brazil, noting its variability in different regions. Systematic review was held in electronic databases and manual search in abstracts concerning ECTRIMS, LACTRIMS and Brazilian Congress of Neurology.

Central Nervous System Idiopathic Inflammatory Demyelinating Disorders in South Americans: A Descriptive, Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Study.

The idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disease (IIDD) spectrum has been investigated among different populations, and the results have indicated a low relative frequency of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) among multiple sclerosis (MS) cases in whites (1.2%-1.5%), increasing in Mestizos (8%) and Africans (15.

Familial forms of multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica at an MS center in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

Objective: To describe familial forms of demyelinating diseases from an MS referral center in Río de Janeiro State, Brazil.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was done to identify familial IIDD cases in Hospital da Lagoa, a public hospital where 75% of patients with IIDD who live in Rio de Janeiro state, located in the Southeast region of Brazil, are referred. The diagnoses of all consecutive patients followed in 2011 were reviewed to apply new diagnostic criteria (Wingerchuk et al.

Fingolimod Prescribed for the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis in Patients Younger Than Age 18 Years.

Background: There have been no clinical trials for approval of medications for treating multiple sclerosis in patients younger than age 18 years. All treatments are based on personal experience and data from open observational studies. Fingolimod is an oral drug for multiple sclerosis that has been shown to be efficient and safe in adults.

There is still a role for the blink reflex in the diagnosis and follow-up of multiple sclerosis.

Objective: The evolution of the diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) has essentially evolved to clinical manifestations and magnetic resonance imaging. Inexpensive, quick to apply, non-invasive, quantitative and reliable neurophysiological tests are rare in daily practice and absent in clinical trials.

Method: The blink reflex was assessed in 50 patients with remitting-relapsing MS (RRMS) and 100 matched controls.

Postpartum Treatment With Immunoglobulin Does Not Prevent Relapses of Multiple Sclerosis in the Mother.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, neurological, immune-mediated disease that can worsen in the postpartum period. There is no consensus on the use of immunoglobulin for prevention of disease relapses after delivery. We have shown that the controversial beneficial effect of immunoglobulin given immediately after birth could not be observed in patients with MS.

Does fatigue occur in MS patients without disability?

Background: Motor dysfunction and fatigue are the most common impairments that are associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Walk tests and scales demonstrate the presence of fatigue in patients with MS with different levels of disability.

Objective: To evaluate objective and subjective fatigue in MS patients without disability.

Long-term effects of exposure to disease-modifying drugs in the offspring of mothers with multiple sclerosis: a retrospective chart review.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) mainly affects women of fertile age. To date, the only recommendation for women with MS intending to become pregnant is to stop all treatment. This recommendation reflects the concerns about the effects of disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) on the offspring.

The impact of diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica in patients with MS: a 10-year follow-up of the South Atlantic Project.

Background: It is recognized that there is a particular geographic and ethnic distribution of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) among Caucasian and non-Caucasian populations.

Objective: To review the diagnoses of patients whom were enrolled in the South Atlantic Project, a Brazilian multiple sclerosis (MS) survey performed from 1995-1998, and to identify NMO and MS case frequencies.

Methods: We reviewed the data from a 10-year follow-up of MS patients.

African ancestry is a predictor factor to secondary progression in clinical course of multiple sclerosis.

Background. Studies on the clinical course of multiple sclerosis have indicated that certain initial clinical factors are predictive of disease progression. Regions with a low prevalence for disease, which have environmental and genetic factors that differ from areas of high prevalence, lack studies on the progressive course and disabling characteristics of the disease.