Understanding the order of events in MS progression could help researchers interpret study results based on single biomarkers, shed light on the biological mechanisms driving progression, and help physicians more precisely monitor patients.
Thus, scientists from the MS Center Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, and other institutions examined the records of 295 relapsing MS patients 243 with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and 52 with secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and 96 healthy people (controls).
“The primary aim was to build a model that reflects a sequence of events in disease evolution in MS patients with a relapse onset,” the researchers wrote.
“The secondary aim was to explore the event sequence for patients in relation to worsening physical and cognitive burden separately, because underlying disease processes could be different,” they wrote.