An international panel of neurologists has updated the current guidelines for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS), strengthening the role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The guidelines, published in the Annals of Neurology, update the "McDonald criteria," created five years ago and named after the chair of the previous panel, Prof W. Ian McDonald of the Institute of Neurology in London.
"We hope, and trust, that these revisions will allow an even earlier diagnosis of MS, without any loss of diagnostic accuracy," said Chris H. Polman, M.D., of the Free University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and chair of the current panel.
Multiple sclerosis is an enigmatic disease of the nervous system and results in the loss of myelin, a substance that normally insulates nerve fibers and speeds electrical conduction through the fibers.
Depending on which nerve fibers are hindered, patients can experience problems ranging from weakness and clumsiness to numbness, visual disturbances, and even emotional and intellectual alterations. In some patients, MS manifests itself in cycles of relapse and remission, while in others the disease progresses steadily.
"The changes in diagnostic criteria for primary progressive multiple sclerosis is particularly helpful," said Robert P. Lisak, M.D., of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and chair of the American Neurological Association's public information committee. "The ability to make the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis early and accurately is important for both patient care and for clinical research including clinical trials of new treatments."