Being a woman and being young at diagnosis of multiple sclerosis were key hallmarks that allowed for "benign" disease over two decades or more, researchers said here.
Among MS patients who achieved benign status after 10 years, female sex (OR=1.68, P=0.032) was associated with a higher probability of remaining benign, with not more than moderate disability, at 20 years, said Antonio Scalfari, MD, from Imperial College in London, and colleagues at the American Academy of Neurology meeting.
This higher chance for maintaining a benign status was also seen for younger age at disease onset (ages 21 to 30 versus >30, OR=1.77, P=0.02; age ≤20 versus >30, OR=3.36, P<0.001), the authors reported.
Males and those older at disease onset had higher risk to become "no longer benign," Scalfari's group concluded.
"There are patients -- if we can identify them at an early age -- who may not require treatment," Scalfari told MedPage Today at his poster presentation. All of the benign patients in this study are untreated, he said.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... pageid/722
