Multiple sclerosis and related disorders
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Mult Scler Relat Disord · Sep 2019
Pediatric acquired demyelinating syndrome (ADS) in inpatient hospital settings: The hospitalization rate, costs, and outcomes in the US.
Although relatively rare among pediatric patients, acquired demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system (ADS) is a potentially disabling condition that warrants hospitalization and long-term follow-up. As such, a better understanding of the epidemiology and hospital utilization for this condition could provide critical information for health care planning and resource allocation. ⋯ Hospital utilization by pediatric patients with ADS increased during the period 2003 through 2012. The cross-sectional analysis for the year 2016 indicated that the trend could be ongoing, although the direct comparison was not feasible due to the changes in the coding system of the dataset from ICD9-CM to ICD10-CM. Although relatively rare, pediatric ADS warrant long-term follow-ups and hospitalizations, impacting the developmental trajectory of the affected children and the lives of their family members. Th potentially increasing trend of pediatric ADS hospital utilization should be acknowledged when allocating and planning future resources and supporting programs.
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Mult Scler Relat Disord · Sep 2019
Observational StudyDisease course, progression and activity of neuromyelitis optica (NMOSD) in patients who were treated with Rituximab, 6 and 12 months after receiving the first dose of drug, in Isfahan city.
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disease (NMOSD) is a chronic inflammatory and usually relapsing demyelinating disease which mainly involves optic nerve and spinal cord and also other parts of the central nervous system. Rituximab has been used for some neurological disorders with a probable autoimmune basis. Early and aggressive immunosuppression therapy is necessary to prevent clinical relapses and permanent disability in NMOSD. Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody against B cells, has been found effective in several recent studies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy of Rituximab as a newly introduced treatment to NMOSD in Iran. ⋯ In the current study, we found that Rituximab can significantly improve disability state and also can markedly reduce relapse rate in NMOSD patients.