REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN CHARCOT FOUNDATION ANNUAL MEETING – BAVENO, ITALY, NOVEMBER 28-30, 2013 – Lumbar puncture was once part of the routine work-up of MS patients but the usefulness of CSF oligoclonal bands (OCB) in the diagnosis of MS was de-emphasized following the publication of the revised McDonald criteria (Polman et al. Ann Neurol 2005;58:840-846).

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REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN CHARCOT FOUNDATION ANNUAL MEETING – BAVENO, ITALY, NOVEMBER 28-30, 2013 – Recent studies have attempted to identify baseline disease characteristics that would predict response to a given treatment, but no factors have been determined thus far. However, markers of disease activity during treatment can be useful for identifying treatment failure.

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REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN CHARCOT FOUNDATION ANNUAL MEETING – BAVENO, ITALY, NOVEMBER 28-30, 2013 – A decade ago, four immunopathological patterns of demyelination were described for MS lesions (Lucchinetti et al. Ann Neurol 2000;47:707-717). Patterns I and II resembled a T-cell-mediated and T-cell plus antibody-mediated autoimmune encephalomyelitis, while patterns III and IV were suggestive of a virus- or toxin-mediated demyelination rather than autoimmune processes. This lesion heterogeneity is evident early in MS; patterns converge to one of T cell, macrophage and microglia involvement later in the disease course (Lassmann H. ECF 2013).

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REPORT FROM THE EUROPEAN CHARCOT FOUNDATION ANNUAL MEETING – BAVENO, ITALY, NOVEMBER 28-30, 2013 – The past 10 years have seen considerable progress in characterizing the etiopathology and clinical course of multiple sclerosis, and a variety of novel disease-modifying therapies are now available. Personalized medicine is the next step, fine-tuning treatment for individual patients and employing strategies with the appropriate risk-benefit profile.

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