Table 2:

Atypical features for MS diagnosis, i.e. “red flags”,

Red flags		Patients
Red flag type	Red flags (ID)	# patients (%)
Clinical
Age at symptoms onset >50 years old	C(1)	7 (18%)
History of SAD	C(2)	6 (15%)
History of oral/genital aphthosis or VT	C(3)	5 (13%)
Poor recovery or bilateral ON	C(4)	4 (10%)
Uveitis and/or retinal vasculitis	C(5)	4 (10%)
Hearing loss and branch retinal artery occlusion	C(6)	1 (3%)
Cognitive decline at onset	C(7)	1 (3%)
Minor	C(8)	6 (15%)
Laboratory
Absence of OCB	L(1)	14 (36%)
Abnormal biomarkers of SAD	L(2)	12 (31%)
Proteinorrachia >100 mg/dL	L(3)	4 (10%)
Positive IgM Borrelia burgdoferi serology	L(4)	1 (3%)
Imaging
Atypical morphology*/distribution WM lesions	I(1)	12 (31%)
Longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis	I(2)	3 (8%)
Diffuse meningeal contrast enhancement	I(3)	3 (8%)
Absence of ≥ 2 spinal cord MRI lesions in OCB negative suspected PPMS	I(4)	3 (8%)

Abbreviations: SAD: systemic inflammatory/autoimmune disorder; VT: venous thrombosis; ON: optic neuritis; OCB: CSF specific oligoclonal bands; RRMS: relapsing remitting MS; PPMS: primary progressive MS; Minor (i.e. “minor” red flags): spondyloarthritis, fibromyalgia, Raynaud’s phenomenon and history of joint inflammation with good response to corticosteroids.

^*including large brainstem lesions.