Table 1.
Patient characteristics.
| All patients | Asymptomatic SC lesions | Other patients | Significance p < 0.05 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total no. | 178 | 42 | 136 | |
| Symptomatic SC lesions | 84 | |||
| No lesions, but SC symptoms | 20 | |||
| No lesions, nor symptoms | 32 | |||
| CIS/RRMS (CIS, %) | 85 (47.8) | 15 (35.7) | 70 (51.5) | 0.074c |
| Onset symptoms | ||||
| Optic nerve (%) | 30 (16.9) | 12 (28.6) | 18 (13.2) | |
| Brainstem/posterior fossa (%) | 40 (22.5) | 19 (45.2) | 21 (15.4) | |
| Spinal cord (%) | 75 (42.1) | 0 (0) | 75 (55.1) | |
| Hemispherical (%) | 7 (3.9) | 3 (7.1) | 4 (2.9) | |
| Other (%) | 1 (0.6) | 1 (2.4) | 0 (0) | |
| Multifocal (%)1 | 25 (14.0) | 7 (16.7) | 18 (13.2) | |
| Relapse symptoms, if before BL2 | 67 | 15 | 52 | |
| No. of patients with a second relapse before BL | 53 | 9 (21.4) | 44 (32.4) | |
| No. of patients with a third relapse before BL | 14 | 6 (14.3) | 8 (5.9) | |
| Optic nerve (%) | 14 (20.1) | 4 (26.7) | 10 (19.2) | |
| Brainstem/posterior fossa (%) | 16 (23.9) | 7 (46.7) | 9 (17.3) | |
| Spinal cord (%) | 28 (41.8) | 0 (0) | 28 (53.8) | |
| Hemispherical (%) | 4 (6.0) | 2 (13.3) | 2 (3.8) | |
| Other/unknown | 3 (4.5) | 2 (13.3) | 1 (1.9) | |
| Multifocal (%)3 | 2 (3.0) | 0 (0) | 2 (3.8) | |
| Gender (female, %) | 119 (66.9) | 30 (71.4) | 89 (65.4) | 0.47c |
| Age at onset (years, mean, SD) | 34.8 (8.8) | 34.8 (9.1) | 34.8 (8.7) | 0.94a |
| Disease duration at BL (months, median, IQR) | 6 (3–8) | 5 (3–6) | 6 (4–8) | 0.16b |
| EDSS at BL (median, IQR) | 2.0 (1.5–3.0) | 2.0 (1.4–2.6) | 2.0 (1.5–3.0) | 0.19b |
| 9-HPT (seconds, mean, ±SD) | 18.1 (3.6) (1 missing) |
18.8 (4.7) | 17.9 (3.2) (1 missing) |
0.18a |
| 25-FWT BL (seconds, mean, ±SD) | 4.2 (1.4) (3 missing) |
4.2 (1.2) | 4.2 (1.5) (3 missing) |
0.54a |
| FU length (months, median, IQR) | 72.0 (60.0–125.3) | 83.5 (64.0–127.3) | 70.0 (60.0–124.5) | 0.207b |
| Brain MRI | ||||
| No. of T2 brain lesions (median, IQR) | 12.5 (7.0–26.8) | 17.0 (7.8–28.0) | 11.5 (6.0–22.5) | 0.039b |
| No. of abnormal brain MRI (T2 lesions, %) | 169 (96) | 42 (100) | 127 (95) | 0.13c |
| No. of T1 Gd+ brain lesions (median, IQR) | 0 (0–1) | 0.5 (0–2) | 0 (0–1) | 0.16b |
| No. of abnormal brain MRI (T1 Gd+ lesions, %) | 71 (40) (3 missing) |
21 (50) | 50 (38) (3 missing) |
0.15c |
| SC MRI | ||||
| No. of T2 SC lesions (median, IQR) | 1 (0–4) | 2 (1–4) | 1 (0–3.75) | 0.003b |
| No. of T1 Gd+ SC lesions (median, IQR) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0.25) | 0 (0–0) | 0.46b |
SC: spinal cord; CIS: clinically isolated syndrome; RRMS: relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis; BL: baseline; SD: standard deviation; IQR: interquartile range; EDSS: Expanded Disability Status Scale; 9-HPT: 9-hole peg test; 25-FWT: 25-Foot Walk Test; FU: follow-up; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging.
1
12 optic nerve, 19 brainstem/posterior fossa, 15 spinal cord, 4 hemispherical.
2
The sum of both 2nd and 3rd relapse symptom localisation.
3
1 Optic nerve, 1 brainstem/posterior fossa, 2 spinal cord.
a
Independent Samples T-test.
b
Mann-Whitney U-test.
c
Chi-square.