…hin 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. The Sunnybrook group used the test battery to examine its effectiveness in differentiating CIS, MS, SPMS and PPMS in 138 patients….

…04). Similar results were reported for the phase IIIb FIRST study, a single-arm open-label study evaluating outcomes of 2,417 RRMS patients four months after switching to fingolimod (Comi et al. ECTRIMS 2013; abstract P513). In the year prior to study entry, ARR was 1.13 in patients treated with glatiramer acetate, 1.01 in those on an interferon, and 1.26 in treatment-naïve patients. After four months of fingolimod, ARR was 0.51 in the prior glati…

…(n=21,348) was used to determine the frequency of SPMS according to three commonly-used definitions: Physician designation; EDSS 4.0; and EDSS 3.0 with a minimum 1-point change in EDSS over the previous two years. Overall, 16.6% of patients met at least one of these definitions of SPMS. Physician designation of SPMS was more specific than EDSS-based definitions: at 9-year follow-up, the median EDSS score was 6.5, and only 28% of patients showed r…

…. Q2W dosing had a more pronounced effect on MRI measures. Disease activity-free rates: The proportion of patients who were disease activity-free (no relapses, EDSS progression or new MRI lesions) was reported for three studies. In the ADVANCE study (above), DAF rates at 12 months were 34% with peg-IFN Q2W and 22% with Q4W. DAF rates for natalizumab were determined in a retrospective analysis of the AFFIRM trial (Havrdova et al. Lancet Neurol 2009…

…edicting treatment non-response in 71 RRMS patients treated with interferon-beta during weeks 48-144 of treatment (Rojas et al. ECTRIMS 2013; abstract P447). Relapses + disability progression was only modestly predictive of non-response (hazard ratio 4.6). Greater sensitivity was seen when new active lesions was combined with relapses + progression (HR 10.1). However, the best early prediction of treatment non-response was seen when relapses/progr…