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No greater surgery risk 
for people with MS  
Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet, 
Stockholm, Sweden, examined the effect of 
surgery on patients with MS compared to 
those without MS, using data from more than 
1.5 million surgeries in Sweden. MS patients had 
more comorbidities before and after surgery, 
but their health generally returned to baseline 
within three to four months after surgery. 
Importantly, there were no significant differences 
in 30-day or one-year mortality rates between 
MS and non-MS patients, indicating that surgery 
is generally safe for MS patients. However, MS 
patients had slightly longer recovery times. 
The findings emphasize the need for tailored 
pre- and postsurgery care for MS patients to 
address their unique health challenges. Overall, 
MS should not prevent necessary surgeries, but 
careful planning and monitoring are essential 
for optimal outcomes. The study was published 
in the journal Frontiers in Neurology. 
Thrower–People living with MS are not immune 
to other non-MS health issues. At times, those 
other health issues may require surgical 
intervention. A common question I hear from 
the MS community is whether they are at 
higher risk for surgical complications because 
of their MS. This study, and others like it, would 
argue the overall risk of surgery appears to be 
the same for those living with MS as for those 
who are not. This study showed no differences 
in mortality across various surgeries for people 
with MS. From a practical standpoint, there 
could be issues that need to be considered for 
postoperative care for some people. For instance, 
mobility issues could affect postoperative 
care and rehabilitation. Your surgical team 
may reach out to your MS healthcare team for 
preoperative clearance and to help coordinate 
your care postoperatively. 
CAR-T therapy reaches milestone    
A 49-year-old woman at Nebraska Medicine 
in Omaha became the first person in the world 
to receive a new kind of therapy for MS. The 
treatment is an “off-the-shelf” donor T-cell therapy 
(an allogeneic CAR T-cell therapy) that is designed 
to attack the immune cells responsible for 
MS. The patient, who had rapidly worsening 
symptoms, received the therapy and was  
discharged a week later. Doctors said this 
marks a promising new direction for MS 
treatment with hopes it could help many 
people living with MS in time. 
Thrower - CAR-T therapy represents an exciting 
area of research for MS. CAR-T stands for 
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cells. With this 
approach, T-cells are reprogrammed in the lab 
to carry out a beneficial immune function. 
While new to MS, CAR-T therapy has been 
used in other health conditions such as cancer 
management. CAR-T cells can be either allogeneic 
or autologous. Allogeneic CAR T-cells are derived 
The MS News column includes analysis from Ben Thrower, 
M.D., MS Focus senior medical advisor. Dr. Thrower draws 
from the top news stories of the quarter and explains what the 
news means to you, the person with MS. 
Christine Willis, MLIS, AHIP, is the Clinical Information 
Librarian at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Egleston Hospital.
Doctor’s Notes
 
     Medicine & Research

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