A 6-year clinical and MRI follow-up study of XXXX with relapsing-remitting @entity15 treated with Interferon-beta.

@entity1 @entity1010 @entity15 @entity2391
There are few long-term clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data on @entity1 treated with interferon-beta ( @entity2391 ) for relapsing-remitting @entity15 (RRMS). The aim of this study was to provide clinical and MRI data on 68 @entity1 with RRMS treated over a 6-year period and to investigate whether a baseline MRI predicts their long-term clinical and MRI outcome. Six MRI scans were performed monthly before treatment and a further 13 scans were performed during treatment with @entity2391 , the last of which 6 years after commencement of treatment. The relapse rate, disability as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), and MRI parameters, including Gd-enhancing lesion load (Gd-LL), T2 hyperintense lesion load (T2-LL) T1 hypointense lesion load (T1-LL) and supratentorial brain volume (SBV) were measured throughout the study. The mean annual relapse rate over the 6 years was 0.52 (SD 0.67), which is significantly lower (68.6%) than the mean annual relapse rate of 1.6 observed during the 2-year period before the commencement of treatment (P < 0.01). The median EDSS score increased from 2 to 2.5, remaining stable in 60% of the @entity1 . From the baseline scan to the final scan, there was a median increase of 7% in the T2-LL and 23.9% in the T1-LL, whilst SBV decreased by 2.7%. The increase in the EDSS over the course of the study was significantly correlated with a reduction in brain volume (r = 0.46, P = 0.001). Greater brain damage at baseline, as measured by both T2-LL and T1-LL, was significantly associated with an increase in disability over the 6 years (r = 0.44, P = 0.0009; r = 0.50, P = 0.0007, respectively). This study shows a sustained effect of @entity2391 on the relapse rate, which is lower than during the 2 years before treatment commencement. More than half the @entity1 showed an improvement or stabilization in the EDSS score. The increment in disability was correlated with the development of @entity1010 but not with increases in lesion burden. Finally, the finding that the extent of lesion burden at the baseline was a strong predictor of increasing disability suggests that @entity2391 treatment might have a moderate effect in modifying the @entity15 ( @entity15 ) disease course over 6 years unless preventive treatment is started early.
