The disease course of multiple sclerosis before and during COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective five-year study

• Published in: Multiple sclerosis and related disorders 2022-09, Vol.65, p.103985-103985, Article 103985
• Main Authors: Babtain, Fawzi, Bajafar, Abdulaziz, Nazmi, Ohoud, Badawi, Manal, Basndwah, Ahmed, Bushnag, Areej, Cupler, Edward, Hassan, Ahmed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; Disease activities; MRI brain; MS relapse; Multiple sclerosis; Original; Pandemic
• ISSN: 2211-0348; 2211-0356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2022.103985

•The risk of COVID-19 in patients with MS was similar to the general population.•MS patients with COVID-19 mostly reported mild symptoms and disease course, irrespective of DMTs.•COVID-19 was not associated with an increase in MS disease activities, either clinical or radiological. COVID-19 pandemic is thought to influence the natural history of immune disorders, yet the knowledge on its effect on multiple sclerosis (MS) is unknown and not fully understood for which we conducted this retrospective study. We included all patients with MS seen in King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between January 2017 and October 20201. We determined clinical and radiological evidence of disease activities in all patients by the end of the study period, and we compared the disease patterns before and during the pandemic. We also identified patients with COVID-19 since March 2020, who had at least 3 months of follow-up following the infection. We studied 301 patients; 216 (72%) were women, the mean age was 38 years (range; 16, 73 years), the mean disease duration was 10 years (range; 1, 36 years), and the median EDSS score was 0.5 (range; 0, 8). RRMS accounted for most of the cases (270 patients). MS disease activities were 25% less prevalent during the pandemic compared to the preceding 3 years (26 vs. 51%, respectively, p