MS Speaks

Neurology. 2014 May 28. pii: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000560.

Defining the clinical course of multiple sclerosis: The 2013 revisions

Lublin FD1, Reingold SC2, Cohen JA2, Cutter GR2, Sørensen PS2, Thompson AJ2, Wolinsky JS2, Balcer LJ2, Banwell B2, Barkhof F2, Bebo B Jr2, Calabresi PA2, Clanet M2, Comi G2, Fox RJ2, Freedman MS2, Goodman AD2, Inglese M2, Kappos L2, Kieseier BC2, Lincoln JA2, Lubetzki C2, Miller AE2, Montalban X2, O'Connor PW2, Petkau J2, Pozzilli C2, Rudick RA2, Sormani MP2, Stüve O2, Waubant E2, Polman CH2.

Author information

1From the Corinne Goldsmith Dickenson Center for Multiple Sclerosis (F.D.L., A.E.M.), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Scientific and Clinical Review Associates, LLC (S.C.R.), Salisbury, CT; The Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research (J.A.C., R.J.F., R.A.R.), Cleveland Clinic, OH; the Department of Biostatistics (G.R.C.), University of Alabama at Birmingham; the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center (P.S.S.), Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Denmark; University College London Institute of Neurology (A.J.T.), UK; the Department of Neurology (J.S.W., J.A.L.), University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston; the Department of Neurology (L.J.B.), New York University Langone Medical Center, New York; the Division of Neurology (B. Banwell), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA; the Departments of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (F.B.) and Neurology (C.H.P.), VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Research Programs Department (B. Bebo), National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York, NY; the Department of Neurology (P.A.C.), The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD; Fédération de Neurologie (M.C.), CHU Hôpital Purpan, Toulouse, France; the Department of Neurology (G.C.), Scientific Institute San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy; University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (M.S.F.), Canada; the Department of Neurology (A.D.G.), University of Rochester Medical Center, NY; the Departments of Neurology, Radiology and Neuroscience (M.I.), Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY; the Department of Neurology (L.K.), University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland; the Department of Neurology (B.C.K.), Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; the Department of Neurology (C.L.), Salpêtrière Hospital, UPMC, Paris, France; the Department of Neurology-Neuroimmunology (X.M.), Cemcat, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; the Division of Neurology (P.W.O.), St Michael's Hospital, Toronto; the Department of Statistics (J.P.), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry (C.P.), Sapienza University, Rome; the Unit of Biostatistics (M.P.S.), Health Sciences Department, Genoa, Italy; the Department of Neurology (O.S.), University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Dallas; and the Multiple Sclerosis Center (E.W.), University of California, San Francisco. fred.lublin@mssm.edu.
2From the Corinne Goldsmith Dickenson Center for Multiple Sclerosis (F.D.L., A.E.M.), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY; Scientific and Clinical Review Associates, LLC (S.C.R.), Salisbury, CT; The Mellen Center for MS Treatment and Research (J.A.C., R.J.F., R.A.R.), Cleveland Clinic, OH; the Department of Biostatistics (G.R.C.), University of Alabama at Birmingham; the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center (P.S.S.), Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Denmark; University College London Institute of Neurology (A.J.T.), UK; the Department of Neurology (J.S.W., J.A.L.), University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston; the Department of Neurology (L.J.B.), New York University Langone Medical Center, New York; the Division of Neurology (B. Banwell), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA; the Departments of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (F.B.) and Neurology (C.H.P.), VU Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Research Programs Department (B. Bebo), National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York, NY; the Department of Neurology (P.A.C.), The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD; Fédération de Neurologie (M.C.), CHU Hôpital Purpan, Toulouse, France; the Department of Neurology (G.C.), Scientific Institute San Raffaele, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy; University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (M.S.F.), Canada; the Department of Neurology (A.D.G.), University of Rochester Medical Center, NY; the Departments of Neurology, Radiology and Neuroscience (M.I.), Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY; the Department of Neurology (L.K.), University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland; the Department of Neurology (B.C.K.), Heinrich-Heine-University, Düsseldorf, Germany; the Department of Neurology (C.L.), Salpêtrière Hospital, UPMC, Paris, France; the Department of Neurology-Neuroimmunology (X.M.), Cemcat, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; the Division of Neurology (P.W.O.), St Michael's Hospital, Toronto; the Department of Statistics (J.P.), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry (C.P.), Sapienza University, Rome; the Unit of Biostatistics (M.P.S.), Health Sciences Department, Genoa, Italy; the Department of Neurology (O.S.), University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Dallas; and the Multiple Sclerosis Center (E.W.), University of California, San Francisco.

Accurate clinical course descriptions (phenotypes) of multiple sclerosis (MS) are important for communication, prognostication, design and recruitment of clinical trials, and treatment decision-making. Standardized descriptions published in 1996 based on a survey of international MS experts provided purely clinical phenotypes based on data and consensus at that time, but imaging and biological correlates were lacking.

Increased understanding of MS and its pathology, coupled with general concern that the original descriptors may not adequately reflect more recently identified clinical aspects of the disease, prompted a re-examination of MS disease phenotypes by the International Advisory Committee on Clinical Trials of MS. While imaging and biological markers that might provide objective criteria for separating clinical phenotypes are lacking, we propose refined descriptors that include consideration of disease activity (based on clinical relapse rate and imaging findings) and disease progression. Strategies for future research to better define phenotypes are also outlined.