Key Clinical Red Flags for Differential Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis: Georgina Arrambide, MD, PhD

WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

"One of the key notes we’re going to have to know is understanding what a typical symptom for MS is and what isn’t. Because then that’s going to guide us through the rest of the process. The other part is that in any cases of suspected MS, we’re going to have an imaging study on MRI."

Distinguishing multiple sclerosis (MS) from other similarly-presenting autoimmune disorders can be difficult, but is critical in the long-term prognosis of a patient and the treatments they choose. There is no definite measure or laboratory marker for the diagnosis of MS, yet; however, other biomarkers like aquaporin-4 may help disseminate it from neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). In addition to NMOSD, there are several other mimics, including autoimmune disorders like acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-related demyelination, Sjorgen’s syndrome, CNS lupus, sarcoidosis, Behcet’s disease, and CVS vasculitis.

At MSMilan 2023, the joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting, held October 11-13, in Milan, Italy, Georgina Arrambide, MD, PhD, a clinical neurologist at the MS Center of Catalunya, presented on an updated consensus approach to the differential diagnosis of MS. The original paper was published in 2008, and since then, there have been several new entities that have been identified that can present in MS. Following her talk, Arrambide sat down with NeurologyLive® to give an overview on the key clinical red flags providers should be aware of when trying to distinguish these disorders, complexities with the diagnosis process, and the most notable mimics seen in presenting patients.

Click here for more coverage of MSMilan 2023.