[The prognosis of multiple sclerosis: computed tomographic comparisons]

The authors analyze the data obtained at clinical and computed tomography (CT) examinations of 56 patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. The diagnosis was established by G. Schumacher's clinical criteria. Neurologic status of the patients was assessed according to J. E. Kurtzke. A clinical and CT evaluation demonstrates significant correlations between cerebral atrophy and motor insufficiency. Two variants of the disease course are recognized: 1) malignant with emergence of brain atrophy seen at CT as early as the disease year 1; 2) benign with appearance of CT evidence of cerebral atrophy later than the disease year 5. Working ability in variant 2 is recorded for longer periods.