Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients treated in real-world settings are important for understanding disease-modifying therapy effects, including no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) assessment. This longitudinal, retrospective, single-cohort analysis assessed MRI and clinical disease outcomes in patients with relapsing-remitting MS treated with natalizumab for up to 5 years in Prague, the Czech Republic.
Methods: The primary study endpoint was the proportion of patients free of new or enlarging fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) lesions after at least 2 years of natalizumab treatment. Secondary endpoints included percentage brain volume change over time, the number of new T1-hypointense lesions that persisted for ≥6 months, FLAIR and T1-hypointense lesion volume change over time, and the proportion of patients with NEDA-3 (defined as no relapses, no confirmed disability worsening, and no new or enlarging FLAIR lesions).
Results: A total of 193 patients were included in the study. During year 1 of natalizumab treatment, 78.9% of patients had no new or enlarging FLAIR lesions and 79.5% had no new T1 lesions. These proportions increased in years 2-5, with ≥98.0% of patients free of new or enlarging FLAIR lesions and ≥98.8% free of new T1 lesions. During year 1 on natalizumab, 52.2% of patients achieved NEDA-3; this proportion increased to ≥69.2% in years 2-5.
Conclusion: This study provides additional evidence that long-term MS disease activity, as measured by both MRI activity and NEDA-3, is well-controlled in patients treated with natalizumab in real-world settings.
Keywords: Clinical study; Disease management; MRI; Multiple sclerosis; Natalizumab.
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