Table 2.

Treatment allocation according to relapse features.

Relapse features	Type of treatment			χ 2 analysis
	No	Oral PDN*	IVMP**
Duration ≤60/>60 days	22/10	7/5	16/5	1.15, P = n.s.
Number of FS involved (≤2/>2)	26/7	8/4	16/4	0.88, P = n.s.
Severity, ΔEDSS (≤2.5/>2.5)	22/11	7/5	11/9	0.78, P = n.s.

PDN: prednisone, IVMP: intravenous methylprednisone, FS: functional system, and ΔEDSS: variation from baseline of Expanded-Disability-Status Scale.

*Oral prednisone was administered at 50 mg/day for the first 5 days then 25 mg/day for the following 5 days and 12.5 mg/day for further 5 days and then discontinued.

**Intra venous methylprednisone was administered at 1000 mg/day i.v. infusion for 5 consecutive days.