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Solomon AJ, Arrambide G, Brownlee WJ, Flanagan EP, Amato MP, Amezcua L, Banwell BL, Barkhof F, Corboy JR, Correale J, Fujihara K, Graves J, Harnegie MP, Hemmer B, Lechner-Scott J, Marrie RA, Newsome SD, Rocca MA, Royal W, Waubant EL, Yamout B, Cohen JA. Differential diagnosis of suspected multiple sclerosis: an updated consensus approach. Lancet Neurol 2023; 22:750-768. [PMID: 37479377 DOI: 10.1016/s1474-4422(23)00148-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
Accurate diagnosis of multiple sclerosis requires careful attention to its differential diagnosis-many disorders can mimic the clinical manifestations and paraclinical findings of this disease. A collaborative effort, organised by The International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials in Multiple Sclerosis in 2008, provided diagnostic approaches to multiple sclerosis and identified clinical and paraclinical findings (so-called red flags) suggestive of alternative diagnoses. Since then, knowledge of disorders in the differential diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has expanded substantially. For example, CNS inflammatory disorders that present with syndromes overlapping with multiple sclerosis can increasingly be distinguished from multiple sclerosis with the aid of specific clinical, MRI, and laboratory findings; studies of people misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis have also provided insights into clinical presentations for which extra caution is warranted. Considering these data, an update to the recommended diagnostic approaches to common clinical presentations and key clinical and paraclinical red flags is warranted to inform the contemporary clinical evaluation of patients with suspected multiple sclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Solomon
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, University Health Center, Burlington, VT, USA.
| | - Georgina Arrambide
- Servei de Neurologia-Neuroimmunologia, Centre d'Esclerosi Múltiple de Catalunya (Cemcat), Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca, Vall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Wallace J Brownlee
- National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Eoin P Flanagan
- Departments of Neurology and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and the Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Maria Pia Amato
- Department NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Florence, Italy; IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Florence, Italy
| | - Lilyana Amezcua
- Department of Neurology, University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Brenda L Banwell
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Division of Child Neurology, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Frederik Barkhof
- Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, London, UK
| | - John R Corboy
- Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - Jorge Correale
- Department of Neurology, Fleni Institute of Biological Chemistry and Physical Chemistry (IQUIFIB), Buenos Aires, Argentina; National Council for Scientific and Technical Research/University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Kazuo Fujihara
- Department of Multiple Sclerosis Therapeutics, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Koriyama, Japan; Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica Center, Southern TOHOKU Research Institute for Neuroscience, Koriyama, Japan
| | - Jennifer Graves
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Bernhard Hemmer
- Department of Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Medical Faculty, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology, Munich, Germany
| | - Jeannette Lechner-Scott
- Department of Neurology, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, NSW Australia; Hunter Medical Research Institute Neurology, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
| | - Ruth Ann Marrie
- Departments of Internal Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Scott D Newsome
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Maria A Rocca
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy
| | - Walter Royal
- Department of Neurobiology and Neuroscience Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Emmanuelle L Waubant
- Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Bassem Yamout
- Neurology Institute, Harley Street Medical Center, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Jeffrey A Cohen
- Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
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Abstract
Optic neuritis, myelitis and brainstem syndrome accompanied by a symptomatic MRI T2 or FLAIR hyperintensity and T1 hypointensity are highly suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS) in young adults. They are called "clinically isolated syndrome" (CIS) and correspond to the typical first multiple sclerosis (MS) episode, especially when associated with other asymptomatic demyelinating lesions, without clinical, radiological and immunological sign of differential diagnosis. After a CIS, the delay of apparition of a relapse, which corresponds to the conversion to clinically definite MS (CDMS), varies from several months to more than 10 years (10-15% of cases, generally called benign RRMS). This delay is generally associated with the number and location of demyelinating lesions of the brain and spinal cord and the results of CSF analysis. Several studies comparing different MRI criteria for dissemination in space and dissemination in time of demyelinating lesions, two hallmarks of MS, provided enough substantial data to update diagnostic criteria for MS after a CIS. In the last revision of the McDonald's criteria in 2010, diagnostic criteria were simplified and now the diagnosis can be made by a single initial scan that proves the presence of active asymptomatic lesions (with gadolinium enhancement) and of unenhanced lesions. However, time to conversion remains highly unpredictable for a given patient and CIS can remain isolated, especially for idiopathic unilateral optic neuritis or myelitis. Univariate analyses of clinical, radiological, biological or electrophysiological characteristics of CIS patients in small series identified numerous risk factors of rapid conversion to MS. However, large series of CIS patients analyzing several characteristics of CIS patients and the influence of disease modifying therapies brought important information about the risk of CDMS or RRMS over up to 20 years of follow-up. They confirmed the importance of the initial MRI pattern of demyelinating lesions and of CSF oligoclonal bands. Available treatments of MS (immunomodulators or immunosuppressants) have also shown unequivocal efficacy to slow the conversion to RRMS after a CIS, but they could be unnecessary for patients with benign RRMS. Beyond diagnostic criteria, knowledge of established and potential risk factors of conversion to MS and of disability progression is essential for CIS patients' follow-up and initiation of disease modifying therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Éric Thouvenot
- Hôpital Carémeau, service de neurologie, 30029 Nîmes cedex 9, France; Université de Montpellier, institut de génomique fonctionnelle, équipe « neuroprotéomique et signalisation des maladies neurologiques et psychiatriques », UMR 5203, 34094 Montpellier cedex, France.
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