b'Medicine & ResearchDoctors NotesTheMSNewscolumnincludesanalysisfromBen Thrower, M.D., MS Focus senior medical advisor.Dr. Thrower draws from the top news stories of thequarter and explains what the news means to you,the person with MS.Study of MS patients shows included spondylopathy (a disorder of the18 percent misdiagnosed vertebrae) and neuropathy (nerve damage).A recent study found that nearly 18 percent The study was published in the the journalof patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.before being referred to two major Los Angeles Dr. Thrower: Diagnosing MS has always been amedical centers for treatment actually had been balancing act. We want to make the diagnosismisdiagnosed with the autoimmune disease. quickly, but also make the diagnosis accurately.The study by researchers at the Cedars-Sinai Prior to the approval of the rst MS therapy inMultipleSclerosisandNeuroimmunology 1993, there may not have been as muchCenter, UCLA, and the University of Vermont urgency in making the diagnosis. We currentlyanalyzed the cases of 241 patients who had have 18 FDA-approved treatment options forbeen diagnosed by other physicians and then relapsing forms of MS. Research has consistentlyreferredtotheCedars-SinaiorUCLAMS shown that starting treatment quickly oers theclinics during the course of a year. Investigators best hope for preventing disability in the future. sought to determine how many patients were This current study found that 18 percentmisdiagnosed with MS, and identify common of subjects had been misdiagnosed with MScharacteristics among those who had been and that the majority of those had beenmisdiagnosed. prescribed an MS therapy. The consequencesThe investigators found that many patients of these misdiagnoses could include the riskwho came to the medical centers with a of side eects from treatment, the delay inprevious diagnosis of MS did not fulll the treating the correct condition, nancial costscriteria for that diagnosis. The patients spent and emotional costs.an average of four years being treated for MS FDA approves new oral drugs to treat MSbefore receiving a correct diagnosis. The U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationThe most common correct diagnosis was approvedMayzent(siponimod)tabletstomigrane (16 percent), followed by radiologically treat adults with relapsing forms of multipleisolated syndrome, a condition in which sclerosis, to include clinically isolated syndrome,patients do not experience symptoms of MS relapsing-remitting disease, and activeeven though their imaging tests look similar to secondary progressive disease. The FDA grantedthose of MS patients. Other correct diagnoses approval of Mayzent to Novartis.57 msfocusmagazine.org'