Normative values of the brief international cognitive assessment for multiple sclerosis (BICAMS) in an Italian young adolescent population: the influence of age, sex, and education.

Background: The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) is the most widely used in clinical practice and the least time-consuming battery to estimate cognitive function in adults with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), while it has been included in few studies on young MS, also because of the absence of normative values.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of age, sex and education on BICAMS scores in a young adolescent population.

Methods: We administered the BICAMS to 169, 11-to-18-year-old, healthy subjects.

Tango classes in people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS): Impact on motor and non-motor functions.

Background: While music-based therapy (MBT) has been shown to improve motor and non-motor features in multiple sclerosis (MS), benefits of tango have never been assessed.

Objective: To evaluate the benefits of tango classes on quality of life (QoL), mood, fatigue, gait, balance, perception of cognitive disorder and sexuality in people with MS.

Methods: 7 participants (age 41.

Long-term effectiveness of natalizumab in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis: A propensity-matched study.

Treatment options for secondary progressive MS (SPMS) are limited, especially considering that the new drugs recently approved are licensed for actively relapsing patients. We aimed to compare the disability progression in a real-world cohort of SPMS patients treated with natalizumab (NTZ) or interferon beta-1b (IFNb-1b). This multicenter retrospective enrolled patients with a diagnosis of SPMS according to 2014 Lublin criteria, who received NTZ or IFNb-1b for at least 48 months between the 1st June 2012 and the 15th May 2018 ​at 33 Italian MS centers contributing to the Italian MS Registry NTZ or IFNb-1b.

Integration of the expanded disability status scale with ambulation, visual and cognitive tests.

Introduction: The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) is usually calculated through a neurological examination with self-reported performance. This may lead to incorrect assessment of Functional System scores (FSs). Aim of our study was to estimate the difference between EDSS obtained during routine visits, or after specific tests.

Impact of COVID-19 and system recovery in delivering healthcare to people with multiple sclerosis: a population-based Study.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has affected the management of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To explore the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare delivery to people with MS and the subsequent recovery of the system.

Methods: In this population-based study in the Campania Region (Italy), we included people with MS across pre-COVID-19, lockdown, pre-vaccination, and vaccination periods.

Characterizing wine terroir using strontium isotope ratios: a review.

This paper presents a detailed review of the use of Sr/Sr isotope systematics for wine provenance studies. The method is based on the principle that the Sr isotope ratio in wine reflects that of the labile fraction of the vineyard soil from which the wine is produced. The review encompasses Sr/Sr data from wine samples published between 1993 and 2021 from terroirs in 22 different countries.

Health related quality of life in the domain of physical activity predicts confirmed disability progression in people with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: The diagnosis of the progression phase of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is still retrospective and based on the objectivation of clinical disability accumulation.

Objectives: To assess whether the Patient Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) scores predict the occurrence of disease progression within three years of follow-up.

Methods: Observational prospective multicenter study.

Corrigendum: A two-year longitudinal study of retinal vascular impairment in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.

Concomitant diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection: case report and the review of literature.

Background: To date, few cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with concomitant Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection have been described. However, none of the previously described cases has been treated with Natalizumab, probably due to the increasing risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

Case: We report the case of a patient concomitantly diagnosed for HIV infection and MS treated with combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) and Natalizumab for 19 months, without clinical or radiological MS activity.

Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in the Campania Region (Italy): Derivation and validation of an algorithm to calculate the 2015-2020 incidence.

Objective: We aim to validate an algorithm based on routinely-collected healthcare data to detect incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Campania Region (South Italy) and to explore its spatial and temporal variations.

Methods: We included individuals resident in the Campania Region who had at least one MS record in administrative datasets (drug prescriptions, hospital discharge, outpatients), from 2015 to 2020. We merged administrative to the clinical datasets to ascertain the actual date of diagnosis, and validated the minimum interval from our study baseline (Jan 1, 2015) to first MS records in administrative datasets to detect incident cases.

Clinical correlates of R1 relaxometry and magnetic susceptibility changes in multiple sclerosis: a multi-parameter quantitative MRI study of brain iron and myelin.

Objectives: The clinical impact of brain microstructural abnormalities in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains elusive. We aimed to characterize the topography of longitudinal relaxation rate (R1) and quantitative susceptibility (χ) changes, as indices of iron and myelin, together with brain atrophy, and to clarify their contribution to cognitive and motor disability in MS.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, voxel-based morphometry, and voxel-based quantification analyses of R1 and χ maps were conducted in gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) of 117 MS patients and 53 healthy controls.

Healthcare resource utilization and costs for extended interval dosing of natalizumab in multiple sclerosis.

Natalizumab is approved as an infusion every 4 weeks (standard-interval dosing [SID]) in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Extended-interval dosing (EID) reduces risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) compared with SID, but the impact on healthcare resources and costs remains unknown. In this population-based study, we included 208 natalizumab-treated MS patients who were classified into EID (≤15 infusions in the previous 18 months; n = 51; age = 33.

Stratification of multiple sclerosis patients using unsupervised machine learning: a single-visit MRI-driven approach.

Objectives: To stratify patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) based on brain MRI-derived volumetric features using unsupervised machine learning.

Methods: The 3-T brain MRIs of relapsing-remitting pwMS including 3D-T1w and FLAIR-T2w sequences were retrospectively collected, along with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores and long-term (10 ± 2 years) clinical outcomes (EDSS, cognition, and progressive course). From the MRIs, volumes of demyelinating lesions and 116 atlas-defined gray matter regions were automatically segmented and expressed as z-scores referenced to external populations.

Radial peripapillary vessel density as early biomarker in preperimetric glaucoma and amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Purpose: To investigate the vessel density (VD) of the radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) plexus in patients affected by preperimetric glaucoma (PPG), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and in a healthy control group using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in order to clarify the pathogenetic mechanisms of these neurodegenerative diseases.

Methods: In this prospective study, we studied 54 eyes of 54 patients with PPG, 54 eyes of 54 patients with aMCI and 54 healthy controls. All subjects underwent structural spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD)-OCT to assess the ganglion cell complex (GCC) and the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL).

Retinal and Choriocapillary Vascular Changes in Early Stages of Multiple Sclerosis: A Prospective Study.

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) abnormalities occur in multiple sclerosis (MS) over the course of the disease. OCTA investigations at early MS stages are lacking. We aimed to investigate vessel density in macular and papillary regions over two years after an initial demyelinating event (IDE).

Correlation between the optic nerve pial diameter and radial peripapillary vascular changes in primary open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To assess the optic nerve pial diameter (ONPD) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) using standardized A-scan ultrasound and to evaluate the correlation between the ONPD and structural, vascular optic nerve head features and visual field parameters in glaucomatous eyes.

Methods: In this prospective study, we enrolled 126 eyes of 63 POAG patients and 124 eyes of 62 healthy controls. In all subjects, the ONPD was evaluated by means of A-scan ultrasound.