. 2019 Jul 1;9:55–78. doi: 10.2147/DNND.S208815

Table 3.

Intravenous methylprednisolone versus placebo

Study/N/Age/Location	Intervention and treatment duration	Summary of efficacy results
Durelli et al (1985)²⁴ N=20 Mean age, years: 32.1 Italy	Intervention IVMP (n=12) vs placebo^a(n=8) Treatment duration IVMP/placebo: 15 days Assessments Daily for 15 days	Clinically significant EDSS score improvement (≥1 point): IVMP, 11/12 patients, 3–6 days after IVMP administration Placebo: 3/8 patients, 5–14 days after placebo administration
Durelli et al (1986)²⁵ N=23 Mean age, years: MP, 30.7; placebo, 33.9 Italy	Intervention IVMP (n=13) vs Placebo (n=10) Treatment duration IVMP/placebo: 15 days Assessments Daily for 15 days	Clinically significant EDSS score improvement (≥1 point): Day 5: IVMP, 8/11 patients; placebo, 1/10 patients Day 10: IVMP, 10/11 patients; placebo, 1/10 patients Day 15: IVMP, 10/11 patients; placebo, 4/10 patients
Filipovic et al (1997)²⁶ N=44 Mean age, years: group P, 35.3; group M, 31.6 Yugoslavia	Intervention IVMP (n=22) vs placebo (n=22) Treatment duration 5 days Assessments 1 day before and 2 days after treatment completion	Mean difference between EDSS scores 1 day before and 2 days after treatment completion: IVMP: 1.00 improvement Placebo: 0.0 (P<0.0001)
Milligan et al (1987)²³ N=22 Age, years: acute relapse, 34.1; progressive, 39.8 United Kingdom	Intervention IVMP (n=13) vs placebo (n=9) Treatment duration 5 days Assessments Weeks 1 and 4 after treatment onset	EDSS score improvement (≥1-point): Week 1: IVMP, 8/13 patients; placebo, 1/9 patients Week 4, IVMP, 10/13 patients; placebo, 2/8 patients

Note: ^aAfter 15 days of treatment with IVMP vs placebo (randomized phase), patients in both groups received OPT, which was slowly tapered over 120 days.

Abbreviations: EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale; IVMP, intravenous methylprednisolone; MP, methylprednisolone; NR, not reported; OPT, oral prednisone taper.