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SAGE Publications, Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 7(29), p. 875-883, 2023

DOI: 10.1177/13524585231151951

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Early non-disabling relapses are important predictors of disability accumulation in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Journal article published in 2023 by Cyrus Daruwalla ORCID, Vahid Shaygannejad ORCID, Serkan Ozakbas, Eva Kubala Havrdova, Dana Horakova ORCID, Raed Alroughani ORCID, Cavit Boz, Francesco Patti ORCID, Marco Onofrj, Alessandra Lugaresi ORCID, Sara Eichau ORCID, Marc Girard, Alexandre Prat, Pierre Duquette ORCID, Bassem Yamout and other authors.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

Background: The prognostic significance of non-disabling relapses in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is unclear. Objective: To determine whether early non-disabling relapses predict disability accumulation in RRMS. Methods: We redefined mild relapses in MSBase as ‘non-disabling’, and moderate or severe relapses as ‘disabling’. We used mixed-effects Cox models to compare 90-day confirmed disability accumulation events in people with exclusively non-disabling relapses within 2 years of RRMS diagnosis to those with no early relapses; and any early disabling relapses. Analyses were stratified by disease-modifying therapy (DMT) efficacy during follow-up. Results: People who experienced non-disabling relapses within 2 years of RRMS diagnosis accumulated more disability than those with no early relapses if they were untreated ( n = 285 vs 4717; hazard ratio (HR) = 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.00–1.68) or given platform DMTs ( n = 1074 vs 7262; HR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.15–1.54), but not if given high-efficacy DMTs ( n = 572 vs 3534; HR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.71–1.13) during follow-up. Differences in disability accumulation between those with early non-disabling relapses and those with early disabling relapses were not confirmed statistically. Conclusion: This study suggests that early non-disabling relapses are associated with a higher risk of disability accumulation than no early relapses in RRMS. This risk may be mitigated by high-efficacy DMTs. Therefore, non-disabling relapses should be considered when making treatment decisions.