Latest Conference Coverage

Choosing Between Stem Cell Transplantation or Fingolimod to Treat Highly Active MS: Tomas Kalincik, MD, PhD

The professor of neurology and biostatistician at the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital spoke about his oral presentation from the 38th ECTRIMS Congress. [WATCH TIME: 5 minutes]

Early Intervention of Highly-Effective DMTs Results in Higher Probability of Achieving NEDA-3

Among those on early highly-effective treatments, shorter disease duration and shorter time between first treatment and current treatment led to more patients achieving no evidence of disease activity.

Using Neuromuscular Function as a Risk Factor for Falls in Multiple Sclerosis: Laurits Taul Madsen, PhD-C

The PhD student at Aarhus University provided insight on his study presented at 2022 ECTRIMS Congress on an innovative way using neuromuscular measures to discriminate those with MS at high risk for falls. [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]

NeurologyLive® Brain Games: October 30, 2022

Natalizumab Demonstrates Significant Impacts on Motor Fatigue in Relapsing MS

Two weeks after natalizumab infusion, patients demonstrated significantly less central fatigue, with a trend for a reduction in supraspinal fatigue, among other notable findings.

The Clinical Implications of the ARISE Data in RIS: Darin Okuda, MD

The director of Neuroinnovation and Multiple Sclerosis & Neuroimmunology Imaging Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center shared his perspective on data suggesting that DMT can benefit patients with radiologically isolated syndrome. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

Nondisabling MS Relapses Associated With Higher Disability Accumulation

In a late-breaking presentation in ECTRIMS, data from the MSBase international registry was suggestive of higher disability accumulation risk compared with those who did not experience relapse, in both treated and untreated patients with MS.

Rituximab Fails to Show Noninferiority to Ocrelizumab in Relapsing-Remitting MS

Using a prespecified noninferiority margin of 0.2 rate ratio, rituximab failed to distinguish itself from ocrelizumab on the primary end point of annualized relapse rate.

Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Fails to Show Superiority to Natalizumab as a Treatment for Progressive MS

Presented as an oral late breaker by Tomas Kalincik, MD, PhD, autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation was not superior to natalizumab in the reduction of disability progression in patients with progressive MS.

Dimethyl Fumarate Demonstrates Disease-Modifying Effect in Radiologically Isolated Syndrome

In the first of its kind ARISE study, treatment with dimethyl fumarate resulted in more than 80% reduction in risk of first demyelinating event relative to placebo.

Ofatumumab’s Effect on Annualized Relapse Rate in Patients with MS: Jeffrey Cohen, MD

The neurologist in the Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research at Cleveland Clinic, shares more on his late breaker presentation from the 38th ECTRIMS conference. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

Third BNT162b2 COVID-19 Vaccine Dose Revives Humoral Response in MS Among Those Treated With Ocrelizumab, Fingolimod

After preliminary data suggested that humoral response may be delayed among those vaccinated against COVID-19 treated with ocrelizumab, new data from the ECTRIMS Congress suggest a third booster dose can revive such response safely.

Cladribine Shows Quality of Life Improvements in Multiple Sclerosis

Data from the CLARIFY-MS study showed significant improvements in Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 physical and mental composite scores, with consistent safety and tolerability among patients with MS.

Intervening Early in MS With Exercise: Ulrik Dalgas, PhD

The professor of public health and sports science at Aarhus University shared his perspective on the potential to modify multiple sclerosis disease progression with lifestyle interventions. [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]

BTK Inhibitor Evobrutinib Demonstrates Significant Impact on Neurofilament Light Over 2.5-Year Stretch in Relapsing MS

Dose-dependent reductions in neurofilament light were observed at week 144 in both those who continued treatment from the double-blind period and those who switched from placebo.

The Impact of COVID-19 and Vaccinations for MS Patients: Tianrong Yeo, PhD, MBBS, MRCP, MMED, FAMS, MCI

The senior consultant for the department of neurology at the National Neuroscience Institute shared more details about his presentation that he gave at the 38th ECTRIMS Congress. [WATCH TIME: 6 minutes]

Ocrelizumab Shows No Effect on Pregnancy and Infant Outcomes

Using a cohort of more than 2000 pregnancies, the data showed an extremely rare number of major congenital anomalies while on ocrelizumab, as most patients underwent live birth with no issue.

MS Field Focused on Slowing Disease Progression: Tianrong Yeo, PhD, MBBS, MRCP, MMED, FAMS, MCI

The senior consultant for the department of neurology at the National Neuroscience Institute discussed his thoughts on improvements in the MS field in relation to this year's ECTRIMS conference. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Represents Valuable Biomarker for MS Disease Progression

Using phenotypically “extreme” MS groups, annualized brain volume loss was higher in progressors vs non-progressors and was predicted by baseline GFAP and NfL levels.

Cladribine Shows Efficacy, Tolerability Among Patients With MS Switching From Infusion DMTs

In a small real-world cohort, annualized relapse rates were reduced for patients with multiple sclerosis who switched to cladribine (Mavenclad; EMD Serono) from ocrelizumab (Ocrevus; Genentech), natalizumab (Tysabri; Biogen), and alemtuzumab (Lemtrada; Sanofi Genzyme).

Fingolimod Continues to Outperform Interferon in Long-Term PARADIGMS Study of Pediatric MS

The favorable annualized relapse rates for fingolimod over interferon beta-1a observed in the 2-year core phase continued in a 5-year open-label extension.

Ravulizumab Demonstrates Significant Ability to Reduce Relapses in NMOSD

Over a median of 73.5 weeks of follow-up time, zero adjudicated relapses were observed for those with AQP4+ NMOSD on ravulizumab.

Newest Updates in Multiple Sclerosis at ECTRIMS 2022: Tianrong Yeo, MBBS, MRCP, MMED, FAMS, MCI, PhD

The senior consultant for the department of neurology at the National Neuroscience Institute shares what he looks forward to at this year's ECTRIMS conference. [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]

No Evidence of Elevated MS Relapse Risk Following Fertility Treatments

Among 43 cycles that achieved pregnancy, investigators observed decreases of annualized relapse rates from 0.26 to 0.09.

IFN 2022 Expands on Neurology Specialties and Positive Brain Health: Stephen Krieger, MD

The neurologist at the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for MS offered a brief overview of his experience at the 2022 IFN conference held in New York City on September 23-24. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

NeurologyLive® Brain Games: October 23, 2022

Test your neurology knowledge with NeurologyLive®'s weekly quiz series, featuring questions on a variety of clinical and historical neurology topics. This week's topic is the history of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis.

Composite Speech Score Detects Longitudinal Cognitive Changes Better Than Some Traditional Measures

The composite score, which consisted of 6 linguistic features and 3 acoustic features, was shown to be sensitive to measures of disease progression, with a potential to help understand treatment response.

Understanding the Utility of Specific Antibody Testing in Peripheral Neuropathies: Benjamin Claytor, MD

The assistant professor of neurology at Cleveland Clinic provided insight on the differences in ganglioside vs paranodal antibodies and their clinical use in various neuropathies. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

NeurologyLive® Brain Games: October 16, 2022

Long-Term Goals of Guidelines for Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: Brian Callaghan, MD, MS

The associate professor at the University of Michigan described the ways recently published guidelines on diabetic neuropathies will change how conditions like Guillain-Barré syndrome and CIDP are managed. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]