diagnosis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved technology that the Swedish company SyntheticMR developed to give doctors more information from magnetic resonance imaging scans. This means the company can begin selling its SyMRI NEURO packages to American medical facilities. Traditional MRIs offer only one level of contrast when depicting tissue. SyMRI NEURO…

Multiple sclerosis patients have high levels of a protein called osteopontin in their cerebrospinal fluid and blood, making it a potential tool for diagnosing the disease and predicting its course, a study suggests. The research, “Osteopontin (OPN) as a CSF and blood biomarker for multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” was published in the journal PLOS One. Researchers wanted to know if levels of osteopontin in cerebrospinal fluid and blood could be a reliable biomarker for MS. To arrive at answer, they “conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis" of studies that had measured the protein's levels in cerebrospinal fluid and blood "in MS patients and controls." The team searched for studies in three databases — PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. Out of 27 that met their criteria, they used 22 in the meta-analysis. All four types of MS were represented in the studies — clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting MS, secondary progressive MS, and primary progressive MS. There were three types of controls in the articles — healthy people, people with non-inflammatory neurological disorders, and people with inflammatory neurological disorders. Researchers' first observation was that all of the MS patients had higher levels of osteopontin than controls. The protein's levels were significantly higher in relapsing-remitting MS patients than in those with clinically isolated syndrome, the group with the lowest osteopontin levels. Levels were similar in the other types of MS. Patients with an active disease had significantly higher levels of the protein in their cerebrospinal fluid than those with a stable disease. The results supported previous studies' findings that osteopontin levels are higher than normal in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of MS patients, strengthening the notion that it could be used as a biomarker for MS. “Given the fact that OPN [osteopontin] levels are higher during relapses, we think that by monitoring this biomarker,  we might be able to predict the disease course," the team wrote. "We propose that developing drugs modulating OPN concentration may be a new treatment strategy for MS."

Multiple sclerosis patients whose first treatment is Genentech's Rituxan (rituximab) stay on it longer than other disease-modifying drugs that patients start with, a Swedish study reports. When they stop taking Rituxan,  it usually isn't for lack of effectiveness or side effects...

As we all know, MS is difficult to diagnose. Put another way, it’s easy to misdiagnose. There’s no single diagnostic test for MS. Neurologists use their clinical examination, the patient’s medical history, and lab tests. They also rely on MRI imaging of the brain and sometimes of the…

FDA Warns of Risks Linked to Gadolinium-based Contrast Agents Used in MRI Scans I had a brain MRI a couple of weeks ago and I asked the technician about the FDA warning about the dye that she was going to inject. She wasn’t aware of it. I…

An international panel of multiple sclerosis (MS) experts has proposed revising the McDonald criteria guidelines to improve and expedite the diagnosis of this disease. Co-chaired by Dr. Jeffrey Cohen of the Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Alan Thompson of the University College London, the 30-member panel reviewed newly available research…

University of Huddersfield researchers have developed a blood test for diagnosing multiple sclerosis that avoids the invasive, painful process of collecting fluid from the brain and spine. The team at the British discussed the test in an article titled “Sphingosine and dihydrosphingosine as biomarkers for multiple sclerosis identified by…

Health Canada Approves Merck’s Mavenclad to Treat RRMS The European Union OK’d Mavenclad back in August. Now, Canada has come on board with approval for this oral MS therapy, which has been reporting very good success at attacking MS. How about the United States joining them? Apparently,…

A blood test may someday replace some of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans taken by people with multiple sclerosis (MS)  — offering an easy, cheap alternative for monitoring disease activity. A study by Norway’s University of Bergen found that blood levels of a factor called neurofilament light chain, released…

The Mayo Clinic has developed a test that allows doctors to distinguish other inflammatory demyelinating diseases from multiple sclerosis in the early stages of a disorder. The test, the first of its kind in the United States, looks for an antibody against a protein known as myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein…

Anniversaries often invoke reflection about the beginning, the journey, and where we now find ourselves. With luck, lessons will have been learned from the invariably good and bad experiences that couple any passage of time. In November 2010, I sat, eyes firmly affixed, as my neurologist read my…

In the future, a blood test may make diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS) much easier, thanks to newly identified biomarker patterns that distinguish between MS patients and healthy people. The test could also correctly detect primary progressive MS (PPMS) in patients who also had relapsing-remitting disease (RRMS). Australian researchers suggest that…

Life is full of curveballs, with a mix of sliders, split-fingered fastballs, and sinkers thrown in. And, it is the curveballs that can be the hardest to take. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the major “curveballs” thrown into my life; I didn’t see it coming and it…

Aubagio (teriflunomide) can help to delay first clinical signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) from progressing to a definite diagnosis in a person, and treatment should likely begin as soon as that first episode is confirmed, Robert Zivadinov, a professor of neurology and director of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, said…

The types of brain and spinal cord inflammation patches that occur in a precursor condition to multiple sclerosis help determine whether a person develops MS in the next 15 years, a British neurologist reported today. Wallace J. Brownlee of the University College London Institute of Neurology made the observation in…

The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers has updated guidelines for using magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate people suspected of having multiple sclerosis. Doctors use the MRI guidelines not only to diagnose MS but also to track treatment results. A task force is reviewing the new guidelines before they're published. The working document is called  "Revised Guidelines of the CMSC MRI Protocol for the Diagnosis and Follow-up of MS." The task force, composed of neurologists, radiologists and imaging scientists experienced in MS, met in January 2017 to revise the guidelines. They also updated information about the situations for which standardized brain and spinal cord MRI scans should be used. One change is a recommendation that gadolinium, a contrast agent in scans, be used cautiously. The previous update, published in 2015, included no constraints on the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents. But soon after publication, information emerged showing that gadolinium, although not toxic, accumulates in the brain. This prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recommend limiting the use of gadolinium to “appropriate clinical circumstances.” To mirror the increased awareness of gadolinium deposits, the new guidelines say: “While there is no known central nervous system toxicity, these agents should be used judiciously, recognizing that gadolinium continues to play an invaluable role in specific circumstances related to the diagnosis and follow-up of individuals with MS.” Since 2009, the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers has addressed a number of other issues. One is encouraging the use of three-dimensional MRI for brain scans. Another is developing protocols for monitoring severe optic nerve inflammation and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, a brain disease caused by a virus. The guidelines have been revised to recommend the specific timing of scans for monitoring PML. The update also includes recommendations for the timing of scans on patients receiving disease-modifying drugs. Since 2009, the guidelines have included recommendations on scans of radiologic isolated syndrome, a condition where MS-like MRI lesions are present without symptoms. And they have included provisions on the value of using MRI changes to evaluate treatment effectiveness. The centers' goal "is to standardize the MRI protocol and make these recommendations a useful guideline for neurologists, neuroradiologists, and related healthcare professionals during initial evaluations and during follow-up of patients with MS, and ultimately provide optimum care for those individuals dealing with this unpredictable disease,” June Halper, the centers' chief executive officer, said in a press release.

The year’s largest gathering of multiple sclerosis “minds” starts on Oct. 25 in Paris. More than 8,000 neurologists, researchers and others who specialize in treating and curing MS will be attending MSParis2017. It’s a joint meeting of the European and the Americas Committee for Research in Multiple Sclerosis…

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans of children could reveal changes associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) before any symptoms are developed, according to a study by scientists at Yale University School of Medicine. The findings suggest that brain and spinal cord scans can identify children at high risk for developing MS.

We are familiar with the “why me” moments? I reference this often because it is a recurring subject in the lives of people with chronic illness. As a little girl I’d ask my parents why my heart is sick, and as an adult, I still ask why have I…

Opioid growth factor (OGF) can serve as a new biomarker to determine diagnosis and progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), say researchers at Pennsylvania State University. Their study, “Serum [Met5]-enkephalin levels are reduced in multiple sclerosis and restored by low-dose naltrexone,” appeared in the journal Experimental Biology and…

IQuity Taking Orders for RNA-based Blood Test That Can Detect MS Early with 90% Accuracy Can it be that there’s now a blood test that can help diagnose MS? This company says it has one and doctors can order it. For a disease that’s always been…

The life science tech company IQuity has begun taking orders from physicians for an RNA-based blood test that can provide reliable yes or no results for multiple sclerosis in seven days – dramatically faster than previous options, which took months or years. The test, IsolateMS, can be a game-changer in…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the marketing of Cognigram, a medical device developed by the cognitive science company Cogstate to evaluate a patient’s cognitive health. This device may be a…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the first year of diagnosis frequently suffer from depression, pre-morbid personality, self-perception issues and other psychological problems, an Italian study finds. Yet it is hard to predict the degree of symptoms since MS takes a different course in each individual. The study, “The first year after…

MSBase and icometrix have joined efforts in a large-scale project to identify imaging markers of multiple sclerosis (MS) that could help diagnose the disease in its early stages. The combination of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) information collected from MS patients with clinical information from the MSBase Registry can offer new insights in disease progression, potentially leading to new predictive tools for MS. It may also promote more standardized use of imaging measures in clinical practice. With more than 52,000 MS patients, the MSBase Registry is an international database committed to collecting patients’ information as well as sharing, tracking and evaluating overall outcome data in MS and other neurological conditions. Until now, the MSBase Registry included only descriptive information regarding patients' imaging analysis results, with no access to full imaging data. This joint, large-scale project will include MRI scan data routinely acquired in clinical setting taking advantage of icometrix’s software platform, MSmetrix. “We wish to unlock the power of MRI for personalized monitoring in MS," Helmut Butzkueven, director of MSBase, said in a press release. "The MSBase Scientific Leadership group has selected MRI integration as the top strategic priority for MSBase. We believe that already conducted MRI scans represent an enormous missed opportunity, because advanced measurements to assess change over time from these scans are not currently in practical use.” Butzkueven said MSBase "will test the predictive power of this unlocking of MRI data in the first phase," with a total of 10,000 MRI data points in at least 3,000 MS patients from all over the world. The project is expected to identify disease progression markers that could help detect early signs of MS by MRI evaluation. This investigator-initiated collaboration between icometrix and the MSBase Foundation is being supported by three global pharmaceutical giants: Novartis, Biogen and Roche. “MRI measures play an essential part in the complex puzzle of MS,” said Danny Bar Zohar, global head of neuroscience development at Novartis. “Partnering with MS Base and icometrix in this exciting project will bring the acquisition of high-quality real world data to the next level, ultimately improving the outcome of people living with MS.”

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $1 million grant to IQuity, a Nashville-based company looking into novel RNA targets that ultimately benefit patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune disorders. The NIH grant is part of the institute’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

The MS Wire is adding a third weekly item, beginning today. It’s a list of several news items that appeared in MS News Today over the preceding week and that caught my eye. Axim Signs Deal to Advance Clinical Trials of Cannabis-based MedChew Rx Gum to…

A significant percentage of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients struggle with improper diagnoses and ineffective treatments, a national survey of more than 5,300 patients found. The fifth annual survey, “MS in America 2017,” was conducted by Health Union between Jan. 25 and March 1, 2017. It was released through the…

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be developing the disease for up to five years before the first clinical diagnosis is made, a study has found. The study, “Health-care use before a first demyelinating event suggestive of a multiple sclerosis prodrome: a matched cohort study,” was published…

Editor’s note: Marking the second MS diagnosis anniversary of our columnists in one week, Judy Lynn writes about the “Anniversary Effect.” This week marks the 14th anniversary of my MS diagnosis. That day, March 27, 2003, is etched clearly in my mind.  Ask me about anything else I was doing…