L’evoluzione dei criteri diagnostici per la sclerosi multipla non ha modificato la quota di pazienti con bande oligoclonali nel liquor

AUTORI

ABSTRACT

The evolution of diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) did not change the rate of patients displaying oligoclonal bands in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

The early diagnosis of MS, an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, can be difficult. Although a specific laboratory test is lacking, the presence of CSF-restricted oligoclonal bands has been reported in the majority of patients (80-95%); as a consequence, this test has been included in the diagnostic criteria for many years. However, after each revision of the diagnostic criteria, the relevance of this test has progressively lost in importance, while magnetic resonance imaging has gained a central role. In the present study, two groups of MS patients diagnosed with McDonald (2001 and subsequent revisions) or with Poser (1983) criteria (176 and 82, respectively) were compared with regard to the frequency of the presence of oligoclonal bands in CSF. The same method for the oligoclonal pattern detection, based on isoelectric focusing followed by blotting and immunodetection of IgG, was used on both groups. Results showed that the rate of patients displaying CSF-restricted oligoclonal bands was 89.0% and 89.8% in the two groups, respectively (P=0.57). Our data suggest that the percentage of MS patients with CSF-restricted oligoclonal bands was unchanged and independent of the diagnostic criteria. Furthermore, the results suggest that the different MS diagnostic criteria considered (Poser vs. McDonald) identify patients with a similar immunological background.

BIBLIOGRAFIA