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Clinical implications of benign multiple sclerosis: A 20‐year population‐based follow‐up study
Author(s) -
Pittock Sean J.,
McClelland Robyn L.,
Mayr William T.,
Jorgensen Neal W.,
Weinshenker Brian G.,
Noseworthy John,
Rodriguez Moses
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.20197
Subject(s) - multiple sclerosis , medicine , population , clinical neurology , psychology , neuroscience , psychiatry , environmental health
In 2001, we followed up all patients from the 1991 Olmsted County Multiple Sclerosis (MS) prevalence cohort. We found that the longer the duration of MS and the lower the disability, the more likely a patient is to remain stable and not progress. This is particularly powerful for patients with benign MS with Expanded Disability Status Scale score of 2 or lower for 10 years or longer who have a greater than 90% chance of remaining stable. This is important because these patients represent 17% of the entire prevalence cohort. These data should assist in the shared therapeutic decision‐making process of whether to start immunomodulatory medications. Ann Neurol 2004;56:303–306