Table 1.
Baseline characteristics for the 166 included cases.
| Baseline characteristics a | Total (n = 166) b | DMT efficacy (n = 82, 49%) | New MS symptoms (n = 29, 18%) | Differential diagnosis (n = 28, 17%) | Screening DMT (n = 27, 16%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIS or MS (n = 20) | No MS (n = 8) | |||||
| Females (n, %) | 112 (68) | 56 (68) | 20 (69) | 11 (55) | 5 (63) | 20 (74) |
| Age at sNfL blood sample (years ± SD) | 41 ± 12 | 42 ± 11 | 39 ± 13 | 44 ± 13 | 41 ± 15 | 37 ± 11 |
| Subtypes (n, %) | ||||||
| CIS | 3 (2) | 0 | 0 | 2 (10) | 1 (4) | |
| RRMS | 132 (80) | 73 (89) | 24 (83) | 12 (60) | 23 (85) | |
| SPMS | 10 (6) | 5 (6) | 4 (14) | 1 (5) | 0 | |
| PPMS | 13 (8) | 4 (5) | 1 (3) | 5 (25) | 3 (11) | |
| Disease-modifying therapies (%) | ||||||
| None | 60 (36) | 4 (5) | 8 (28) | 16 (85) | 8 (100) | 23 (85) |
| Ocrelizumab | 44 (27) | 32 (39) | 10 (35) | 1 (5) | 1 (4) | |
| Dimethyl fumarate | 26 (16) | 17 (21) | 6 (21) | 1 (5) | 2 (7) | |
| Teriflunomide | 9 (5) | 8 (10) | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 | |
| Interferon-beta | 9 (5) | 6 (7) | 1 (3) | 1 (5) | 1 (4) | |
| Fingolimod | 5 (3) | 4 (5) | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 | |
| Natalizumab | 4 (2) | 3 (4) | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 | |
| Glatiramer acetate | 3 (2) | 3 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cladribine | 3 (2) | 3 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ozanimod | 2 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 | |
| Rituximab | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| MRI activity prior to sNfL (0.53 ± 1.4 months) c | 63 (39) | 30 (37) | 13 (45) | 7 (35) | - | 13 (48) |
| MRI activity after sNfL (3.75 ± 2.3) c | 26/96 (27) | 9/44 (20) | 5/23 (22) | 5/8 (63) | - | 6/22 (27) |
| sNfL—mean ± SD (pg/mL) | 13 + 17 | 10 ± 5.8 | 15 ± 18 | 25 ± 39 | 16 ± 14 | 11 ± 8 |
| sNfL—age-corrected percentiles (%) d | ||||||
| <5 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 1 (5) | 0 | 0 |
| 5–10 | 4 (2) | 3 (4) | 1 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10–25 | 13 (8) | 9 (11) | 3 (10) | 0 | 0 | 1 (4) |
| 25–50 | 42 (25) | 24 (29) | 6 (21) | 3 (15) | 2 (25) | 7 (26) |
| 50–75 | 60 (36) | 29 (35) | 12 (41) | 6 (30) | 2 (25) | 11 (41) |
| 75–90 | 15 (9) | 5 (6) | 2 (7) | 2 (10) | 0 | 6 (22) |
| 90–95 | 8 (5) | 3 (4) | 1 (3) | 3 (15) | 1 (13) | 0 |
| >95 | 23 (14) | 9 (11) | 4 (14) | 5 (25) | 3 (38) | 2 (7) |
DMT: disease-modifying therapies; MS: multiple sclerosis; CIS: clinically isolated syndrome; SD: standard deviation; RRMS: relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis; SPMS: secondary progressive multiple sclerosis; PPMS: primary progressive multiple sclerosis; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; sNfL: serum neurofilament light.
The date of the blood draw for sNfL measurement was defined as baseline time point.
This included 157 unique patients, for sNfL was measured in three separate consultations by one patient, and two separate consultations in seven patients.
MRI activity (new/enlarged T2 lesions and T1 gadolinium-enhanced (T1GE) lesions) prior to the sNfL result was determined in 158 scans of patients with MS. MRI activity after the sNfL result was determined in 96 scans of patients with MS.
Calculated using the NfL interface for physicians. For patients with CIS or MS, we calculated age-corrected percentiles based on a reference cohort of patients with MS. For some age groups of patients with MS (below 20 and above 62 years of age), age-corrected percentiles are technically unknown because of insufficient data. In this study, we therefore extrapolated age-corrected percentiles based on the available data for MS patients. For patients without MS, we calculated age-corrected percentiles based on a reference cohort of controls (i.e. without a neurological diagnosis).