Multiple sclerosis in India: An institutional study.

BACKGROUND

Few population based studies on multiple sclerosis have been published from India. There is an increasing demand to establish a nationwide MS registry in India especially in view of the percieved increased incidence and prevalence.

OBJECTIVES

To create a registry data base for all MS patients presenting at our institute and understand the disease characteristics in our population and compare them with the published reports from the west.

METHODS

MS was diagnosed on the basis of clinical and imaging features (Revised McDonald׳s criteria 2010). Demographics, clinical data, treatment details and disease behavior were recorded over a follow up of one year. Descriptive analyses was performed.

RESULTS

101 patients (61 females) were recruited in the study period from June 2011 to December 2012. Mean age of the patients at the time of presentation was 33.3±9.2 years and mean duration of illness was 5.98±4.95. 68.4% patients had RRMS, 16.8% had SPMS whereas 14.8% patients had PPMS. Site(s) involved in first relapse was spinal cord in 43.7% patients followed by brainstem 25.3% and optic nerve in 24.1% patients. Mean number of relapses were 3.26±2.026. Mean EDSS at the time of presentation was 3.20±2.11. Overall, 55.44% patients took DMT at some point during their course of disease. No significant differences were observed between our patient characteristics when compared to publications from west.

CONCLUSION

Demographic data in the present study are comparable to those reported in population-based epidemiological studies from west. A nationwide registry network will help establish stronger data on incidence, prevalence and disease profile of MS in India.