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Background: The Multiple Sclerosis Outcome Assessments Consortium (MSOAC) was formed by the National MS Society to develop improved measures of multiple sclerosis (MS)-related disability. Objectives: (1) To assess the current literature and available data on functional performance outcome measures (PerfOs) and (2) to determine suitability of using PerfOs to quantify MS disability in MS clinical trials. Methods: (1) Identify disability dimensions common in MS; (2) conduct a comprehensive literature review of measures for those dimensions; (3) develop an MS Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) data standard; (4) create a database of standardized, pooled clinical trial data; (5) analyze the pooled data to assess psychometric properties of candidate measures; and (6) work with regulatory agencies to use the measures as primary or secondary outcomes in MS clinical trials. Conclusion: Considerable data exist supporting measures of the functional domains ambulation, manual dexterity, vision, and cognition. A CDISC standard for MS (http://www.cdisc.org/therapeutic#MS) was published, allowing pooling of clinical trial data. MSOAC member organizations contributed clinical data from 16 trials, including 14,370 subjects. Data from placebo-arm subjects are available to qualified researchers. This integrated, standardized dataset is being analyzed to support qualification of disability endpoints by regulatory agencies. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: MSOAC is funded largely through the National Multiple Sclerosis Society grant (no. RG 4869-A-1) to the Critical Path Institute. Annual dues from sponsors supplement the NMSS grant.

BackgroundThymectomy has been a mainstay in the treatment of myasthenia gravis, but there is no conclusive evidence of its benefit. We conducted a multicenter, randomized trial comparing thymectomy plus prednisone with prednisone alone.MethodsWe compared extended transsternal thymectomy plus alternate-day prednisone with alternate-day prednisone alone. Patients 18 to 65 years of age who had generalized nonthymomatous myasthenia gravis with a disease duration of less than 5 years were included if they had Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America clinical class II to IV disease (on a scale from I to V, with higher classes indicating more severe disease) and elevated circulating concentrations of acetylcholine-receptor antibody. The primary outcomes were the time-weighted average Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score (on a scale from 0 to 39, with higher scores indicating more severe disease) over a 3-year period, as assessed by means of blinded rating, and the time-weighted average required dose of prednisone over a 3-year period.ResultsA total of 126 patients underwent randomization between 2006 and 2012 at 36 sites. Patients who underwent thymectomy had a lower time-weighted average Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis score over a 3-year period than those who received prednisone alone (6.15 vs. 8.99, P

Amber R Salter,1 Ruth Ann Marrie,2,3 Neetu Agashivala,4 Daniel A Belletti,4 Edward Kim,4 Gary R Cutter,1 Stacey S Cofield,1 Tuula Tyry51Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; 2Department of Internal Medicine, 3Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; 4Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, East Hanover, NJ, USA; 5Division of Neurology, St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, USAIntroduction: The evolving landscape of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis raises important questions about why patients change DMTs. Physicians and patients could benefit from a better understanding of the reasons for switching therapy. Purpose: To investigate the reasons patients switch DMTs and identify characteristics associated with the decision to switch.Method: The North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) Registry conducted a supplemental survey among registry participants responding to the 2011 update survey. The supplemental survey investigated reasons for switching DMT, origin of the discussion of DMT change, and which factors influenced the decision. Chi-square tests, Fisher’s exact tests, and logistic regression were used for the analyses. Results: Of the 691 eligible candidates, 308 responded and met the inclusion criteria (relapsing disease course, switched DMT after September 2010). The responders were 83.4% female, on average 52 years old, with a median (interquartile range) Patient-Determined Disease Steps score of 4 (2–5). The most recent prior therapy included first-line injectables (74.5%), infusions (18.1%), an oral DMT (3.4%), and other DMTs (4.0%). The discussion to switch DMT was initiated almost equally by physicians and participants. The primary reason for choosing the new DMT was based most frequently on physician’s recommendation (24.5%) and patient perception of efficacy (13.7%). Conclusion: Participants frequently initiated the discussion regarding changing DMT, although physician recommendations regarding the specific therapy were still weighed highly. Long-term follow-up of these participants will provide valuable information on their disease trajectory, satisfaction with, and effectiveness of their new medication. Keywords: multiple sclerosis, health communication

Accurate clinical course descriptions (phenotypes) of multiple sclerosis (MS) are important for communication, prognostication, design and recruitment of clinical trials, and treatment decision-making. Standardized descriptions published in 1996 based on a

Accurate clinical course descriptions (phenotypes) of multiple sclerosis (MS) are important for communication, prognostication, design and recruitment of clinical trials, and treatment decision-making. Standardized descriptions published in 1996 based on a survey of international MS experts provided purely clinical phenotypes based on data and consensus at that time, but imaging and biological correlates were lacking. Increased understanding of MS and its pathology, coupled with general concern that the original descriptors may not adequately reflect more recently identified clinical aspects of the disease, prompted a re-examination of MS disease phenotypes by the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials of MS. While imaging and biological markers that might provide objective criteria for separating clinical phenotypes are lacking, we propose refined descriptors that include consideration of disease activity (based on clinical relapse rate and imaging findings) and disease progression. Strategies for future research to better define phenotypes are also outlined.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been established as the most relevant paraclinical tool for diagnosing and monitoring multiple sclerosis (MS). In this context, counting the number of new enhancing lesions on monthly MRI scans is widely used as a surrogate marker of MS activity when evaluating the effect of treatments. In this study, we investigated whether parametric models based on mixed Poisson distributions (the Negative Binomial (NB) and the Poisson-Inverse Gaussian (P-IG) distributions) were able to provide adequate fitting of new enhancing lesion counts in MS. We found that the NB model gave good approximations in relapsing7remitting and secondary progressive MS patients not selected for baseline MRI activity, whereas the P-IG distribution modelled better new enhancing lesion counts in relapsing-remitting MS patients selected for baseline activity. This study shows that parametric modelling for MS new enhancing lesion counts is feasible. This approach should provide more targeted tools for the design and the analysis of MRI monitored clinical trials in MS.