Advances in MS Diagnosis and Disease Monitoring

Volume 2, Issue 1

Advances in MS Diagnosis and Disease Monitoring

In this issue:

While accurately monitoring disease activity in persons with MS is critically important to determining effective interventions, conventional MRI data are only modestly associated with clinical measures of disability. In addition, differentiating MS from other conditions, such as inflammatory CNS vasculopathies, is often challenging because of lack of specific MS biomarkers.

In this issue, Dr. Elias Sotirchos and Dr. Michael Kornberg from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine review the recent literature describing advances in imaging techniques and bioassays that may bridge these gaps in diagnosing, prognosticating, and monitoring MS in their patients.

Learning objectives:

Discuss the utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) measures for monitoring brain atrophy and predicting disability worsening in MS.
Explain the role of the central vein sign in the differential diagnosis of MS and the phase rim in characterizing lesional pathology in MS.
Describe the prognostic significance of elevated serum neurofilament light chain in MS.

Authors:

Elias Sotirchos, MD

Post-Doctoral Fellow
Department of Neurology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Michael Kornberg, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Guest Faculty Disclosures

Dr. Sotirchos has indicated that he has no financial interests or relationships with a commercial entity.

Dr. Kornberg has disclosed that he has received consulting fees from OptumRx.

Unlabeled/Unapproved Uses

The authors have disclosed that they will be discussing the emerging role of serum neurofilament light chain and OCT measures in monitoring and predicting the disease course in MS, as well as the role of the central vein sign in differentiating MS from mimicking conditions. These methods have not been officially approved for this purpose.

Program Director:

Michael Kornberg, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Neurology
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Guest Faculty Disclosures:

Dr. Sotirchos has indicated that he has no financial interests or relationships with a commercial entity.

Dr. Kornberg has disclosed that he has received consulting fees from OptumRx.

Unlabeled/Unapproved Uses:

Length of activity:

1.0 hour Physicians

Launch date: January 11, 2019
Expiration date: January 10, 2021

Start Issue