State of the Art and Future Challenges in Multiple Sclerosis Research and Medical Management: An Insight into the 5th International Porto Congress of Multiple Sclerosis

Clinical and neuroimaging findings in MOGAD-MRI and OCT

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disorders (MOGAD) are rare in both children and adults, and have been recently suggested to be an autoimmune neuroinflammatory group of disorders that are different from aquaporin-4 autoantibody-associated neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and from classic multiple sclerosis. In-vivo imaging of the MOGAD patient central nervous system has shown some distinguishing features when evaluating magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, as well as retinal imaging using optical coherence tomography. In this review, we discuss key clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of paediatric and adult MOGAD. We describe how these imaging techniques may be used to study this group of disorders and discuss how image analysis methods have led to recent insights for consideration in future studies.

Socioeconomic consequences of multiple sclerosis-A systematic literature review

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a challenging and disabling condition, predominantly affecting individuals in their early life, and has an impact functionally, financially, and on quality of life. However, there is a lack of systematic approach towards assessing socioeconomic consequences of MS. Our objective was to systematically review observational analytical studies investigating the socioeconomic consequences of MS. We conducted a systematic review on socioeconomic consequences of MS with a focus on employment-, income-, work ability- and relationship-related outcomes between MS and the general population. Additionally, the educational characteristics were extracted. From 4958 studies identified, 187 were assessed for eligibility and a total of 27 studies from eight countries were included in this qualitative assessment; 32 different outcomes were identified. All studies indicated pronounced differences between MS patients and the general population, for example 15%-30% lower employment, lower earnings and higher social benefits, higher absenteeism and presenteeism proportions, higher work disability (eg, sick-leave days) among MS patients. Some studies also indicated differences in the family or relationship characteristics. There were no apparent differences with regard to educational level. In conclusion, socioeconomic data can serve as robust outcome measures to study various aspects of MS reflecting the broader consequences of the disease.