Multiple Sclerosis Research Repository

1. “MRI as an outcome of in multiple sclerosis clinical trials” by M Daumer et al

-in RRMS, TLL (total lesion load) made no independent contribution to predicting change in disability from baseline to trials’s end

-inclusion of gadolinium enhancing lesions into multivariate models did not independently contribute to the predictive value for on-trial relapses

-in SPMS, a small effect of TLL was found for disability change (n=355) but in multivariate analysis this account for less than 5% of the variance in end-of-trial disability

-MRI measures widely used in trials of RRMS and progressive MS add little if anything independently to the clinically relevant relapse and disability outcomes.  These results emphasize the importance of validation potential surrogate markers against clinical measures and highlight the need for better MRI markers of disease activity and progression