NEARLY 1 MILLION PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED BY MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IN THE U.S. AND IT AFFECTS WOMEN MORE THAN MEN.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not an easy diagnosis to reach because of our lack of blood tests or any specific test for that matter, as you know – making the chance for misdiagnosis very high. And yet, like most medical conditions, it has only gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And one of the most important things to understand about MS is that it will progress, as patients will experience brain lesions, lesion location, spinal cord atrophy, and other indications that will greatly affect their physical and mental health. And I think one of the reasons it's challenging is this is both a multifocal and a diffuse disease process of the central nervous system.
A TYPICAL CASE STUDY OF PROGRESSIVE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
For example, in a typical case of somebody with a secondary progressive MS, a 56-year-old gentleman who had Secondary Progressive MS at age twenty-three, had been on a number of medications for multiple sclerosis.
Injectable therapies and then or infusion-based medications. More aggressive therapy. He had an impairment in his memory. 32.38 kokmen, which is like a short test of mental status. A bilateral intranuclear family drug, meaning there's brainstem impairment right greater in the left. Upper motor neuron weakness is usually in. Because of spinal cord disease, extensor plant responses in a text gate.
And as you can see in this gentleman, he's got multifocal lesions in many parts of the brain brain stem, as well as the spinal cord, and there's atrophy of the brain. So, you can tell why it's difficult to understand why is this gentleman worsening slowly over time with progressive disease.
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS IS A RADIOLOGICAL PARADOX
Another thing that's common is a radiological paradox. And we don't know. In these two separate patients, one with many MRI lesions of the brain and one there are very sparse lesions of the brain, which one is developing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. That's the paradox. We don't know exactly why it is impairing in one, but not the other.
Due to the need for more attention in this area, we are sharing GIBLIB content and resources that cover the updates and innovations in MS for your practice through our conference, “Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology Update”.
GIBLIB 2022 CONFERENCE FOR MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS – MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND AUTOIMMUNE NEUROLOGY UPDATE
This conference covers everything new and established with MS, featuring a variety of medical lectures discussing multiple sclerosis in 2022, including MS Diagnosis and Misdiagnosis, Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder, Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein (MOG) Autoimmunity, Adult-Onset Hereditary Leukoencephalopathies, Contributing Factors in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, Autoimmune/Paraneoplastic Neurologic Disorders with Antibodies Targeting Intracellular Antigens, Symptomatic Treatment in MS, Current Therapeutic Strategies for MS, MRI in Multiple Sclerosis: Updates, Antibody Testing Methodology & Discovery: On the Frontier of Neuroscience Innovation, and more.
Earn 5.5 CME credits when you watch the full conference.
Gregory (Gregg) S. Day, MD, reviews the presentations, testing, and diagnosing of Autoimmune Dementia. Learning Objectives: Recognize the symptoms and signs that suggest an autoimmune or inflammatory cause of dementia; Discuss the pathological mechanisms that contribute to cognitive impairment in patients with autoimmune encephalitis; Develop an approach to diagnosis and management of patients with suspected autoimmune dementia.
Michel Toledano, MD, describes the data on neurologic manifestations with Covid-19. Learning Objectives: Recall that acute neurologic manifestations other than encephalopathy are relatively rare with COVID-19; Recognize that multiple levels of the nervous system can be affected directly or indirectly, although mechanisms of the disease remain poorly understood and reliable epidemiological data is lacking; Discuss some of the challenges of collecting and disseminating novel data during a pandemic.
Brian G. Weinshenker, MD, discusses the challenges of diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis. Learning Objectives: Explain the difficulties in establishing a confident diagnosis of MS; Describe the reasons underlying misdiagnosis; Discuss the strategies being explored to prevent misdiagnosis.
Anastasia Zekeridou, MD, PhD, discusses case presentations and outcomes. Learning Objectives: Describe the neurological complications of immune checkpoint inhibitor cancer immunotherapy, diagnostic and therapeutic approach.
Iris (Vanessa) V. Marin Collazo, MD, describes the management options for multiple sclerosis. Learning Objectives: Review symptoms management in patients with multiple sclerosis.
