Latest Conference Coverage

EHR-Incorporated MS Smartform Significantly Cuts Down Patient History Review Time in MS

The form, which is freely available through the Epic and Cerner EHR platforms, was developed to streamline and standardize patient data collection to allow clinicians more time with patients and more consistent information.

Using a Holistic Approach to Improving Overall Patient Satisfaction in MS: Louise Palmer, MA

The health research assistant at the Shepherd Center discussed the need to improve access to interventions that improve the overall happiness of individuals with multiple sclerosis. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

High Density of Patients With MS in Midwest Driven by Unknown Environmental Factors

A large number of patients with MS were clustered in an area that may have had high exposure levels of aluminum, which the study investigators noted warrants future research.

Shifting Focus From Relapses to Neurodegeneration in MS: Michael Levin, MD, FAAN, FANA

The professor of neurology at the University of Saskatchewan discussed the need to improve therapeutics aimed at improving neurodegeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

BTK Inhibitor Evobrutinib Demonstrates Long-Term Safety in Open-Label Extension

At the end of the open-label extension period, 77.5% of patients reported treatment-emergent adverse events and 27.7% had a treatment-related TEAE.

Women With MS Utilize Social Media to Discuss, Share Safety Concerns on DMT Use During Pregnancy

Investigators utilized a social media listening tool to evaluate and scale mentions of disease-modifying therapy use by women with multiple sclerosis, with the majority of concerns focused on safety and treatment reinitiation in the postpartum period.

Herpes Simplex Virus Types Not Associated With Increased Risk of Multiple Sclerosis

Although there were no differences between herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, patients with MS did show increased levels of EBV capsid antigen and EBNA compared with controls.

Plasma Neurofilament Level Correlated With Symbol Digit Modality Scores Following Ozanimod Treatment

Both ozanimod doses were associated with greater median reductions in plasma neurofilament light and mean improvements in SDMT score change than interferon beta-1a at month 12 of treatment.

Tackling Neurodegeneration in MS Through A1 Antibodies: Michael Levin, MD, FAAN, FANA

The professor of neurology at the University of Saskatchewan discussed his presentation at the 2022 CMSC Annual Meeting on using ribonucleoprotein A1 antibodies to drive neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

CMSC 2022: What to Expect From the Annual Meeting

June Halper, MSN, APC-C, MSCN, FAAN, the chief executive officer of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, shared her perspective on what to expect from this year’s annual meeting, which takes place June 1-4, 2022, in National Harbor, Maryland.

The Need to Find Valuable Parkinson Disease Biomarkers: Mark Lew, MD

The director of the Division of Movement Disorders at the USC Keck School of Medicine discussed the early reactions behind reflex tears as a potential biomarker for Parkinson disease. [WATCH TIME: 2 minutes]

Progress in Neurogenerative Disease Drug Development: Gregory A. Rippon, MD, MS

The chief medical partner of neurology, ophthalmology, and internal medicine at Genentech shared his perspective on the steps the field has taken to improve clinical trials and therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

Reactions to FDA Advisory Panel Decision on AMX0035: Justin Klee; Josh Cohen, BSc

The co-CEOs and co-founders of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals discussed their immediate thoughts to the recent FDA AdComm meeting, which voted against evidence of efficacy for AMX0035 in ALS. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

NeuroVoices: Mark Lew, MD, on the Validation of Tears as a Biomarker for Parkinson Disease

The director of the Division of Movement Disorders at the USC Keck School of Medicine provided insight on the next steps to justify whether reflex tears are a reliable biomarker for Parkinson disease.

Validating Tears as a Biomarker in Atypical Presentations of Parkinson Disease: Mark Lew, MD

The director of the Division of Movement Disorders at the USC Keck School of Medicine discussed the efforts needed to validate tears as a biomarker in patients who don’t present with typical Parkinson disease. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

The Future of Tears as a Biomarker for Neurodegenerative Disorders: Mark Lew, MD

The director of the Division of Movement Disorders at the USC Keck School of Medicine provided insight on the next steps in how we can expand on tears as a valuable biomarker for neurodegenerative diseases. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

The Motivations for Using Tears to Confirm Parkinson Disease Diagnosis: Mark Lew, MD

The director of the Division of Movement Disorders at the USC Keck School of Medicine commented on the potential of reflex tears as a critical biomarker of Parkinson disease. [WATCH TIME: 6 minutes]

Predicting Patient Response to MS Treatment Using Cognitive Outcome Measures: Ludwig Kappos, MD, FEAN, FAAN

The professor of neurology at the University of Basel provided insight on a new methodology that allows depiction of patient profiles from baseline characteristics and their associations with individual outcomes. [WATCH NOW: 5 minutes]

Regenerative Medicine for Neurologic Injury and the Potential of SB623

Peter J. McAllister, MD, FAAN, medical director and chief medical officer, New England Center for Neurology and Headache, offered his insight into data from the phase 2 STEMTRA trial in TBI and the trends he’s observed in the field of regenerative medicine.

AAN Annual Meeting 2022: Top Expert Interviews

Expert clinicians offer their insight on the associations between stroke and COVID-19, treatment for traumatic brain injury, the latest on aducanumab, priorities for research in migraine, and more, from the 2022 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.

Patient Survey Suggests Preference for Once-Nightly Dosing With FT218 in Narcolepsy

Patients who switched from a twice-nightly stable regimen of Xyrem or Xywav to once-nightly FT218 reported that they preferred the new dosing schedule, along with challenges in adherence to twice-nightly dosing.

NeuroVoices: Mark Lew, MD, on Exploring Reflex Tears as a Biomarker for Parkinson Disease

The director of the Division of Movement Disorders at the USC Keck School of Medicine discussed the phenomenon behind reflex tears and whether they can serve as a valuable biomarker for Parkinson disease.

Addition of Mechanical Thrombectomy Improves Odds of Good Outcome in Elderly Poststroke Patients

Following respective improvements in odds of good and poor outcomes, investigators concluded that the addition of mechanical thrombectomy should be considered over best medical management practices alone.

Aligning Patient, Clinician, and Caregiver Goals in Alzheimer Disease: Sharon Cohen, MD, FRCPC

The neurologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto discussed why elevating the voices of patients and caregivers is important to understanding and treating an individual with Alzheimer disease. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

Ozanimod Treatment Results in Higher Rates of No Evidence of Disease Activity vs Interferon ß-1a

After readjusting baseline to month 12, more patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis on continuous ozanimod achieved NEDA-3 and NEDA-4 status than those on interferon ß-1a.

Idiopathic Hypersomnia Demonstrates Moderate to Severe Impact on Quality of Life, Patient-Reported Outcomes

Despite a low percentage of patients missing work time due to their condition, a higher percentage reported impairment while working, overall work impairment, and activity impairment.

Treatment Optimization in Epilepsy and the Need to Individualize the Approach

Jacqueline A. French, MD, discussed the factors that influence the challenges in treatment selection in epilepsy, and how patient conversations and comprehension of heterogeneity can help in the treatment selection process.

Understanding the Effects of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Multiple Sclerosis: Ludwig Kappos, MD, FEAN, FAAN

The professor of neurology at the University of Basel discussed a recent study presented at AAN 2022 on whether levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with MS disease activity or progression. [WATCH TIME: 4 minutes]

Ofatumumab Shows Decreased Effect on Microglial Activation in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Patients treated with ofatumumab (Kesimpta; Novartis) demonstrated significant decreases in absolute and percent CD19 counts at day 5 of treatment, which persisted through the 90-day period.

Reasons for Selecting Certain Outcome Measures in Aducanumab’s Drug Development: Sharon Cohen, MD, FRCPC

The neurologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto provided insight on the differences between outcome measures for Alzheimer disease and how they factored into a new item-level analysis of aducanumab (Aduhelm; Biogen). [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]