Highlights of the 29^th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS), Copenhagen, DK, October 2-5, 2013 – Researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, have developed a brief cognitive screening tool to evaluate patients with CIS or MS (Lapshin et al. ECTRIMS 2013; abstract P793).  The computer-generated battery of tests comprises the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), the STROOP Colour-Word Test, the Paced Visual Serial Addition Test (PVSAT) four- and two-second trials, and an index of cognitive speed. The test battery can be administered in 10 minutes. Read More

Highlights of the 29^th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS), Copenhagen, DK, October 2-5, 2013 – The Canadian MS HSCT Study is a phase II trial in which patients with aggressive MS receive ablative chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The procedure appears to stabilize disease progression in a majority of patients, according to the results now presented (Freedman et al. ECTRIMS 2013; abstract P 543). Read More

Highlights of the 29^th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS), Copenhagen, DK, October 2-5, 2013 – Two new analyses have examined the relative merits of maintaining treatment with a first-line injectable compared to escalating therapy. A US study retrospectively analysed a claims database to identify MS patients managed with a lateral switch from an interferon to glatiramer acetate, and those managed with treatment escalation from an interferon to fingolimod during a one-year period (October 2010 to September 2011) (Bergvall et al. ECTRIMS 2013; abstract P635).

The total sample was 606 patients. After switching, the proportion of patients with one or more relapses was 29.5% for those on glatiramer acetate compared to 16.7% for those on fingolimod; the duration on therapy was 282 days for the glatiramer acetate group and 307 days for the fingolimod group. The annualized relapse rate (ARR) was 0.55 for the glatiramer acetate cohort versus 0.27 for the fingolimod cohort. The probability of having a relapse was 61% lower for patients switching to fingolimod rather than to glatiramer acetate (p=0.0008), with fingolimod-treated patients experiencing 53% fewer relapses per year (p=0.0004). Read More

Highlights of the 29^th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (ECTRIMS), Copenhagen, DK, October 2-5, 2013 – Secondary-progressive MS (SPMS) has been variously defined, but physicians’ determinations may substantially delay the diagnosis, according to an analysis by the MSBase group (Spelman et al. ECTRIMS 2013; abstract 125).

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