REPORT FROM THE ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS – BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2014 – Cognitive outcomes appear to be similar in pediatric-onset MS and adult-onset MS despite a longer disease duration in younger patients (Hakiki et al. ECTRIMS 2014; abstract YI2.3).

Neuropsychological performance was assessed with the Rao Brief Repeatable Battery and the Stroop test in 14 patients with a history of pediatric-onset MS and 30 age-matched adult RRMS patients. Duration of MS was 9.8 years and 3.7 years, respectively. Mean EDSS score was 1.7 and 1.5. Mean age for the two groups was 26 years. Read More

REPORT FROM THE ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS – BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2014 – Testing for oligoclonal Ig bands in cerebrospinal fluid is useful in predicting which patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) are at risk of developing clinically-definite MS (Tumani et al. ECTRIMS 2014; abstract P197). Read More

REPORT FROM THE ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS – BOSTON, MA, SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2014 – A U.S. survey of academic and community neurologists from the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) reports that clinicians tend to favour an earlier, more aggressive treatment approach (Tornatore et al. ECTRIMS 2014; abstract P295). Read More

The debate about the relative importance of T cells and B cells in the pathogenesis of MS will be refueled with the long-awaited publication of the results of the failed ATAMS study of atacicept (Kappos et al. Lancet Neurol 2014;13:353-363). Preliminary results from the two atacicept studies, ATAMS in relapsing MS and ATON in optic neuritis, were presented at ECTRIMS 2011 (Kappos et al. Abstract 107; Sergott et al. Abstract P436) and signalled the death knell for the drug in MS. Read More