Subscribe to RSS
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20170043
Benign multiple sclerosis: aspects of cognition and neuroimaging
A esclerose múltipla benigna: aspectos cognitivos e de neuroimagemABSTRACT
The existence of a benign multiple sclerosis (BMS) form is a controversial subject. Recent studies of these patients reveal different levels of cognitive impairment, despite the apparent preservation of motor function. The objective of this study was to review and analyze a number of publications that discuss the general aspects of this disease form, such as the definition criteria, prevalence, and clinical and neuroimaging markers. A systematic review of published data on BMS up to October 2015 was performed. Thirty-one published articles were analyzed. The estimated frequency of BMS varied between 6% and 73%. Cognitive impairment was recognized as affecting 17% to 47% of the subjects and presented significant correlation with neuroimaging, such as brain atrophy, increased lesion volume in T2 magnetic resonance assay, and regional grey matter atrophy. The current criteria overestimated the frequency of BMS and, for that reason, this highlights the importance of validating the diagnostic methods practiced.
RESUMO
A existência real de uma forma benigna da esclerose múltipla (EMB) é um tema controverso. Ampliar o número de publicações que abordam os aspectos gerais do subtipo da doença, tais como os critérios de definição utilizados, análise de prevalência e da presença de marcadores clínicos e de neuroimagem. Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática dos dados publicados até outubro de 2015, relativa à EMB. Os dados encontrados foram dicotomizados em gráficos e, posteriormente, analisados. Foram analisados 31 artigos publicados. A frequência estimada EMB oscila entre 6% a 73%. O comprometimento cognitivo foi reconhecido em 17–47% dos sujeitos, apresentando correlação significativa com os aspectos de neuroimagem, como a atrofia cerebral global, aumento do volume lesional em T2 e atrofia regional da substância cinzenta. Os critérios atualmente utilizados superestimam a freqüência de EMB, e, por essa razão, destaca-se a importância da validação dos métodos de diagnóstico praticados.
Publication History
Received: 11 July 2016
Accepted: 20 March 2017
Article published online:
05 September 2023
© 2023. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua do Matoso 170, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20270-135, Brazil
-
References
- 1 Ramsaransing GS, De Keyser J. Benign course in multiple sclerosis: a review. Acta Neurol Scand. 2006;113(6):359-69. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.2006.00637.x
- 2 Hawkins SA, McDonell GV. Benign multiple sclerosis? Clinical course, long term follow up, and assessment of prognostic factors. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1999;67(2):148-52.
- 3 Thompson AJ, Hutchinson M, Brazil J, Feighery C, Martin EA. A clinical and laboratory study of benign multiple sclerosis. Q J Med. 1986;58(225):69-80.
- 4 Pittock SJ, McClelland RL, Mayr WT, Jorgensen NW, Weinshenker BG, Noseworthy J et al. Clinical implications of benign multiple sclerosis: a 20 year population based follow up study. Ann Neurol. 2004;56(2):303-6. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.20197
- 5 Glad SB, Aarseth JH, Nyland H, Riise T, Myhr KM. Benign multiple sclerosis: a need for a consensus. Acta Neurol Scand Suppl. 2010;122(190):44-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.2010.01375.x
- 6 Pagani E, Mesaros S, Rovaris M, Caputo D, Zaffaroni M, Capra R et al. Structural MRI correlates of benign multiple sclerosis. A voxel-based morphometry study of regional grey matter atrophy. Proc Intl Soc Magn Reson Med. 2008;16:3441.
- 7 McAlpine D. The benign form of multiple sclerosis: results of a long term study. Brit Med J. 1964;2(5416):1029-32. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.2.5416.1029
- 8 Haase CG, Faustmann PM. Benign multiple sclerosis is characterized by a stable neuroimmunologic network. Neuroimmunomodulation. 2004;11(4):273-7. https://doi.org/10.1159/000078447
- 9 Smith MM, Arnett PA. Factors related to employment status changes in individuals with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2005;11(5):602-9.
- 10 Mumford CJ, Wood NW, Kellar-Wood H, Thorpe JW, Miller DH, Compston DA. The british isles survey of multiple sclerosis in twins. Neurology. 1994;44(1):11-5. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.44.1.11
- 11 Costelloe L, Thompson A, Walsh C, Tubridy N, Hutchinson M. Long term clinical relevance of criteria for designating multiple sclerosis as benign after 10 years of disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008;79(11):1245-8. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.2008.143586
- 12 Andersen O. Natural course of multiple sclerosis: 50 years of follow up. Mult Scler. 2010;16(10 suppl):S13.
- 13 Correale J, Peirano I, Romano L. Benign multiple sclerosis: a new definition of this entity is needed. Mult Scler. 2012;18(2):201-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458511419702
- 14 Dawson DM. Benign multiple sclerosis: some recent ideas. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep. 2008;8(1):1-4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-008-0001-6
- 15 Bester M, Lazar M, Petracca M, Babb JS, Herbert J, Grossman RI et al. Tract-specific white matter correlates of fatigue and cognitive impairment in benign multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Sci. 2013;330(1-2):61-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2013.04.005
- 16 Rovaris M, Riccitelli G, Judica E, Possa F, Caputo D, Ghezzi A et al. Cognitive impairment and structural brain damage in benign multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2008;71(19):1521-6. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000319694.14251.95
- 17 Amato MP, Portaccio E, Stromillo ML, Boretti B, Zipoli V, Siracusa G et al. Cognitive assessment and quantitative magnetic resonance metrics can help to indentify benign multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2008;71(9):632-8. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000324621.58447.00
- 18 Rovaris M, Barkhof F, Calabrese M, De Stefano N, Fazekas F, Miller DH et al. MRI features of benign multiple sclerosis: toward a new definition of this disease phenotype. Neurology. 2009;72(19):1693-701. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181a55feb
- 19 Mesaros S, Rocca MA, Riccitelli G, Pagani E, Rovaris M, Caputo D et al. Corpus callosum damage and cognitive dysfunction in benign MS. Hum Brain Mapp. 2009;30(8):2656-66. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.20692
- 20 Gonzalez-Rosa JJ, Vazquez-Marrufo M, Vaquero E, Duque P, Borges M, Gamero MA et al. Differential cognitive impairment for diverse forms of multiple sclerosis. Neuroscience. 2006;7(1):39. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-7-39
- 21 Filippi M, Campi A, Mammi S, Martinelli V, Locatelli T, Scott G et al. Brain magnetic resonance imaging and multimodal evoked potentials in benign and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1995;58:31-7. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.58.1.31
- 22 Falini A, Calabrese G, Filippi M, Origgi D, Lipari S, Colombo B et al. Benign versus secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis: the potential role of proton MR spectroscopy in defining the nature of disability. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1998;19(2):223-9.
- 23 De Stefano N, Battaglini M, Stromillo ML, Zipoli V, Bartolozzi ML, Guidi L et al. Brain damage as detected by magnetization transfer imaging is less pronounced in benign than in early relapsing multiple sclerosis. Brain. 2006;129(8):2008-16. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awl152
- 24 Gauthier SA, Berger AM, Liptak Z, Duan Y, Egorova S, Buckle GJ et al. Rate of Brain Atrophy in Benign vs Early Multiple Sclerosis. Arch Neurol. 2009;66(2):234-7. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneurol.2008.567
- 25 Strasser-Fuchs S, Enzinger C, Ropele S, Wallner M, Fazekas F. Clinically benign multiple sclerosis despite large T2 lesion load: Can we explain this paradox? Mult Scler. 2008;14(2):205-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458507082354
- 26 Amato MP, Ponziani G, Pracucci G, Bracco L, Siracusa G, Amaducci L. Cognitive impairment in early-onset multiple sclerosis: pattern, predictors, and impact on everyday life in a 4-year follow-up. Arch Neurol. 1995;52(2):168-72. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.1995.00540260072019
- 27 Amato MP, Zipoli V, Goretti B. Benign multiple sclerosis: cognitive, psychological and social aspects in a clinical cohort. J Neurol. 2006;253(8):1054-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-006-0161-8
- 28 Sayao AL, Devonshire V, Tremlett H. Longitudinal follow up of “benign” multiple sclerosis at 20 years. Neurology. 2007;68(7):496-500. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000253185.03943.66
- 29 Leray E, Coustans M, Le Page E, Yaouanq J, Oger J, Edan G. Clinically definite benign multiple sclerosis, an unwarranted conceptual hodgepodge: evidence from a 30 year observational study. Mult Scler. 2013;19(4):458-65. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458512456613
- 30 Poser S, Ritter G, Bauer HJ, Grosse-Wilde H, Kuwert EK, Raun NE. HLA-Antigens and the prognosis of multiple sclerosis. J Neurol. 1981;225(3):219-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00313751
- 31 Fisniku LK, Brex PA, Altmann DR, Miszkiel KA, Benton CE, Lanyon R et al. Disability and T2 MRI lesions: a 20-year follow-up of patients with relapse onset of multiple sclerosis. Brain. 2008;131(3):808-17. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awm329
- 32 Calabrese M, Filippi M, Rovaris M, Bernardi V, Atzori M, Mattisi I et al. Evidence for relative cortical sparing in benign multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study. Mult Scler. 2009;15(1):36-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1352458508096686
- 33 Correale J, Ysrraelit MC, Fiol MP. Benign multiple sclerosis: does it exist? Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep.2012;12(5):601-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-012-0292-5
- 34 McDonald WI, Compston A, Edan G, Goodkin D, Hartung HP, Lublin FD et al. Recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: guidelines from the International Panel on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Ann Neurol. 2001;50(1):121-7. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.1032
- 35 Polman CH, Reingold SC, Banwell B, Clanet M, Cohen JA, Filippi M et al. Diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: 2010 revisions to the McDonald criteria. Ann Neurol. 2011;69(2):292-302. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.22366
- 36 Swanton JK, Fernando K, Dalton CM, Miszkiel KA, Thompson AJ, Plant GT et al. Modification of MRI criteria for multiple sclerosis in patients with clinically isolated syndromes. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatr. 2006;77(7):830-33. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp.2005.073247
- 37 Filippi M, Rocca MA, Benedict RH, DeLuca J, Geurts JJ, Rombouts SA et al.The contribution of MRI in assessing cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2010;75(23):2121-8. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e318200d768
- 38 Gonzalez-Rosa JJ, Vazquez-Marrufo M, Vaquero E, Duque P, Borges M, Gamero MA et al. Differential cognitive impairment for diverse forms of multiple sclerosis. BMC Neuroscience. 2006;7(39):39. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-7-39
- 39 Vazquez-Marrufo M, Gonzalez-Rosa JJ, Vaquero E, Duque P, Borges M, Gomez C et al. Quantitative electroencephalography reveals different physiological profiles between benign and remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis patients. BMC Neurology. 2008;8(44):44. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2377-8-44