Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 15, 2025
A Method of Trigonometric Modelling of Seasonal Variation Demonstrated with Multiple Sclerosis Relapse Data
Published on: December 9, 2015
Cerebellar pathology and disability worsening in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: A retrospective analysis
Maria Petracca1,2, Gary Cutter3, Sirio Cocozza1,4
1Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Background And Purpose:
Cerebellar damage is a valuable predictor of disability, particularly in progressive multiple sclerosis. It is not clear if it could be an equally useful predictor of motor disability worsening in the relapsing-remitting phenotype.
Aim:
We aimed to determine whether cerebellar damage is an equally useful predictor of motor disability worsening in the relapsing-remitting phenotype.
Methods:
Cerebellar lesion loads and volumes were estimated using baseline magnetic resonance imaging from the CombiRx trial (n = 838). The relationship between cerebellar damage and time to disability worsening (confirmed disability progression [CDP], timed 25-foot walk test [T25FWT] score worsening, nine-hole peg test [9HPT] score worsening) was tested in stagewise and stepwise Cox proportional hazards models, accounting for demographics and supratentorial damage.
Results:
Shorter time to 9HPT score worsening was associated with higher baseline Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score (hazard ratio [HR] 1.408, p = 0.0042) and higher volume of supratentorial and cerebellar T2 lesions (HR 1.005 p = 0.0196 and HR 2.211, p = 0.0002, respectively). Shorter time to T25FWT score worsening was associated with higher baseline EDSS (HR 1.232, p = 0.0006). Shorter time to CDP was associated with older age (HR 1.026, p = 0.0010), lower baseline EDSS score (HR 0.428, p < 0.0001) and higher volume of supratentorial T2 lesions (HR 1.024, p < 0.0001).
Conclusion:
Among the explored outcomes, single time-point evaluation of cerebellar damage only allows the prediction of manual dexterity worsening. In clinical studies the selection of imaging biomarkers should be informed by the outcome of interest.
