Clinically isolated syndrome 30 year follow up study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Clinically isolated syndromes and multiple sclerosis: prospective clinical and MRI follow up after 30 years and features at earlier time-points
IRAS ID
172606
Contact name
Declan T Chard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
While it is widely hoped that early treatment of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) will reduce long- term disability, given the potential for short and long-term adverse effects, and costs, management decisions should as far as possible involve a well-informed and personalised risk-benefit analysis. Previous studies suggest that about a quarter of people with MS develop little or no physical disability around 10-20 years after first symptom onset, although definitions of a benign MS outcome are debated, and a benign course after 10-20 years does not reliably predict the same favourable state later on. It is also not known if early (0-10 years) and intermediate (10-20 years) clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, now obtained routinely in clinical practice, can predict benign MS after 30 years. We will prospectively follow up a group recruited in the 1980s with their first symptoms suggestive of MS. Clinical assessments and MRI scans were obtained about every five years for the first 20 years, and it is now nearly 30 years since their initial review. Follow up of this group now will provide a uniquely long term perspective on benign and non-benign MS, their frequency and early, intermediate and late clinical and MRI features.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/0650
Date of REC Opinion
23 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion