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Multiple sclerosis ( MS) is associated with inflammatory lesions in the brain and spinal cord. The detection of such inflammatory lesions using magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) is important in the consideration of the diagnosis and differential diagnoses of MS, as well as in the monitoring of disease activity and predicting treatment efficacy. Although there is strong evidence supporting the use of MRI for both the diagnosis and monitoring of disease activity, there is a lack of evidence regarding which MRI protocols to use, the frequency of examinations, and in what clinical situations to consider MRI examination. A national workshop to discuss these issues was held in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 2015, which resulted in a Swedish consensus statement regarding the use of MRI in the care of individuals with MS. The aim of this consensus statement is to provide practical advice for the use of MRI in this setting. The recommendations are based on a review of relevant literature and the clinical experience of workshop attendees. It is our hope that these recommendations will benefit individuals with MS and guide healthcare professionals responsible for their care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Epilepsy is associated with advanced multiple sclerosis (MS). We aimed to investigate whether the incidence of epilepsy in MS has been affected by the introduction of disease-modifying treatments (DMT) for MS., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 14,557 patients from the Swedish MS register with MS onset between 1991 and 2018. Incident diagnoses of epilepsy or any seizure were identified through cross-linkage with the National Patient Register. Next, yearly prevalence of epilepsy as well as 5- and 10 years incidence of epilepsy or any seizure for consecutive years of MS onset were estimated, the latter with Kaplan-Meier analysis. Cox regression was used to adjust the association between the year of MS onset and incidence of epilepsy for baseline variables., Results: Prevalence of epilepsy in the MS cohort increased from 0.34% in 1991 to 2.54% in 2018 (yearly odds: 1.26 [1.22, 1.29]). The 5 years incidence rate of epilepsy, ranging from 0.4% (95% CI 0.008-0.79%) to 1.3% (95% CI 0.71-1.89%), and the 10 years incidence rate of epilepsy, ranging from 1.1% (95% CI 0.31-1.88%) to 2.6% (95% CI 1.22-3.97%) showed no significant trends (p = .147 and p = .418, respectively). Similarly, no significant trends were found for the incidences of any seizure. The incidence trends of epilepsy remained not significant after adjusting for sex, MS onset type (relapsing or progressive onset), or age at MS onset., Conclusions: Our findings do not support the hypothesis that the introduction of novel DMT for MS has reduced the incidence of epilepsy among MS patients., (© 2022 The Authors. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: To identify serum proteins associated with MS and affected by interferon beta treatment., Methods: Plasma samples from 29 untreated relapsing-remitting MS patients and 15 healthy controls were investigated with a multiplexed panel containing 92 proteins related to inflammation. Follow-up samples were available from 13 patients at 1 and 3 months after initiation of treatment with interferon beta-1a., Results: Ten proteins were differentially expressed in MS patients. Five of these were altered by treatment with IFN-β 1a: uPA, CX3CL1, CCL2, TRAIL and IL18., Conclusion: CCL2 and TRAIL were confirmed to be modulated with interferon beta treatment in MS. As novel findings, we now report that uPA and CX3CL1 were differentially expressed in MS and increased after IFN-beta-1a treatment. Conflicting results have been reported on how interferon beta affects IL-18., (© 2021 The Authors. Acta Neurologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: To determine whether treatment with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) can induce sustained complete remission in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS)., Material and Methods: Case series of patients with relapsing-remitting MS (n = 10) treated at a single center between 2004 and 2007 and followed up for 10 years. The patients were treated with a BEAM/ATG conditioning regimen (n = 9) or a cyclophosphamide/ATG conditioning regimen (n = 1) followed by infusion of unmanipulated autologous hematopoietic stem cells. The primary endpoint was sustained complete remission. Sustained complete remission was defined as "no evidence of disease activity-4," sustained for a period of at least 5 years without any ongoing disease-modifying treatment. Furthermore, MS was considered as "resolved" if intrathecal IgG production and cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light levels were normalized as well., Results: Five out of 10 patients were in sustained complete remission at the end of the study. In three of them, MS was resolved., Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that sustained complete remission after autologous HSCT for MS is possible., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)