[Multiple sclerosis in Argentina. Systematic review and meta-analysis]

The objective of the present study was to perform a systematic review and a meta-analysis in order to determine the epidemiological profile of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Argentina. A systematic search was performed in electronic databases and lists of references, focused on epidemiological studies of MS in Argentina. Data obtained were analyzed with the StatsDirect software. A total of 275 studies were retrieved of which 15 included. The prevalence was described in 4 studies, most of them reported a prevalence of 17 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The incidence, prospectively described in one hospital based study, was 1.76 cases per 100,000 persons-years. In this study, 65.5% of cases were relapsing-remitting MS, 21.5% secondary progressive, 10.6% primary progressive and 2.4 progressive with relapsing MS. Female/male ratio was 1.55. This study provided information regarding the epidemiological feature of MS in Argentina. Future researches will contribute to increase the number of recorded cases, and the knowledge on the behavior of this disease in the country.