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Published on: February 19, 2021
Confirming a Historical Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis: Challenges and Recommendations
Andrew J Solomon1, Georgina Arrambide1, Wallace Brownlee1
1Department of Neurological Sciences (AJS), Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, University Health Center - Arnold 2, Burlington, VT; Servei de Neurologia-Neuroimmunologia (GA), Centre d'Esclerosi Múltiple de Catalunya, (Cemcat), Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca, Vall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (WB), London, United Kingdom; Department of Neurology (AHC), Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; Department of Neurology (MIG), Neuroimmunology Section, FLENI, Buenos Aires City, Argentina; The Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis (FDL), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology (NM), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; Multiple Sclerosis Precision Medicine Center of Excellence (EMM), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; Translational Neuroradiology Section (DSR), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; Section of Neuroradiology (ÀR), Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Neurology (BGW), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN; and Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research (JAC), Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
Abstract:
Patients with a historical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS)-a patient presenting with a diagnosis of MS made previously and by a different clinician-present specific diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in clinical practice. Application of the McDonald criteria is most straightforward when applied contemporaneously with a syndrome typical of an MS attack or relapse; however, retrospective application of the criteria in some patients with a historical diagnosis of MS can be problematic. Limited patient recollection of symptoms and evolution of neurologic examination and MRI findings complicate confirmation of an earlier MS diagnosis and assessment of subsequent disease activity or clinical progression. Adequate records for review of prior clinical examinations, laboratory results, and/or MRI scans obtained at the time of diagnosis or during ensuing care may be inadequate or unavailable. This article provides recommendations for a clinical approach to the evaluation of patients with a historical diagnosis of MS to aid diagnostic confirmation, avoid misdiagnosis, and inform therapeutic decision making.
