Natural history of multiple sclerosis from the Indian perspective: Experience from a tertiary care hospital.

CONTEXT: Multiple sclerosis (MS) has a spectrum of heterogeneity, as seen in western and eastern hemispheres, in the clinical features, topography of involvement and differences in natural history. AIM: To study the clinical spectrum, imaging, and electrophysiological as well as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) characteristics and correlate them with outcome. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of MS patients during a period of 20 years. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Cases were selected according to recent McDonald's criteria (2010), They were managed in the Department of Neurology, Christian Medical College, Vellore. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used for categorical variables. Multiple binary logistic regressions were done to assess significance. Kaplan-Meier curves were drawn to estimate the time to irreversible disability. RESULTS: A total of 157 patients with female preponderance (55%) were included. The inter quartile range duration of follow-up was 9.1 (8.2, 11) years for 114 patients, who were included for final outcome analysis. Relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) (54.1%) was the most common type of MS seen. RRMS had a significantly better outcome (odds ratio: 0.12, 95% confidence interval: 0.02-0.57, P = 0.008) compared to progressive form of MS (primary progressive, secondary progressive). The Expanded Disability Status Scale score of patients at presentation and at final follow-up was 4.4 ± 1.31 and 4.1 ± 2.31, respectively. During the first presentation, polysymptomatic manifestations like motor and sphincteric involvement, incomplete recovery from the first attack; and, during the disease course, bowel, bladder, cerebellar and pyramidal affliction, predicted a worse outcome. CONCLUSION: A high incidence of optico-spinal presentation, predominance of RRMS and a low yield on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies are the major findings of our study. A notable feature was the analysis of prognostic markers of disability.