With the latest revisions to the McDonald criteria and new therapies on the horizon, multiple sclerosis (MS) care is entering a pivotal phase. In this expert-led discussion, Dr. Gates Colbert sits down with Dr. Tirisham Gyang to unpack how emerging diagnostic tools, earlier intervention strategies, personalized treatment planning, and multidisciplinary collaboration are driving more proactive and precise care. Dr. Gyang is a Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.

Understanding and identifying early risk factors for multiple sclerosis (MS) is critical to shifting care toward prevention and minimizing long-term disease burden. Ashley Baker sits down with Dr. Vikram Bhise to discuss how emerging biomarkers and updated diagnostic criteria could enable earlier intervention. Dr. Bhise is a Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and the Director of the Division of Child Neurology and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

The latest updates to diagnostic and prognostic criteria in multiple sclerosis (MS) are reshaping how clinicians approach patient care. Ashley Baker sits down with Dr. Jay Avasarala to review key changes to the McDonald criteria, explore strategies for differentiating MS from mimics, and discuss best practices for treatment selection. Dr. Avasarala is a Professor in the Department of Neurology and the Director of the Comprehensive Care Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology at the University of Kentucky.

New and evolving digital tools are opening opportunities to better detect, monitor, and personalize care for patients with multiple sclerosis. Dr. Gates Colbert sits down with Dr. Victoria Leavitt to learn about advances in digital assessments, imaging, and speech analysis that are reshaping how clinicians understand and manage cognitive changes in MS. Dr. Leavitt is the Director of the Leavitt Lab in the Department of Neurology and an Associate Professor of Neuropsychology at Columbia University in New York.

Despite the fact that categorial scores like the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the MS Severity Scale (MSSS) are considered to be the gold standard, a recent study found that the Scripps Neurological Rating Scale (SNRS) and the Combinatorial Weight-Adjusted Disability Score (CombiWISE) may be better suited for assessing disability in patients who are severely affected by MS. Learn more about this study’s findings with Dr. Andrew Wilner and Dr. Dejan Jakimovski, a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Buffalo who presented this research at the joint 2023 ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting.

Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) are an effective option for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). In fact, a recent study presented at the 2023 joint ECTRIMS-ACTRIMS meeting in Italy found that MS patients being treated with a DMT had better cognitive function than those who were not. However, the same study also found that women are less likely than men to receive DMT treatment. Dive further into the findings with Dr. Andrew Wilner and Dr. Victoria Leavitt, Assistant Professor of Neuropsychology at Columbia University.

Polypharmacy is defined as the regular use of five or more prescribed medications, and due to their disease course, related symptoms, and side effects, patients with multiple sclerosis are at an increased risk of polypharmacy. So to hear insights on ways to identify, manage, and prevent polypharmacy, Dr. Mary Catherine Cheeley is joined by Dr. Ahmed Obeidat, Associate Professor of Neurology, and Lauren Beranek, MD candidate at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Find a full article on their findings published in Practical Neurology.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative disease with a highly variable clinical course.1,2 Most patients who have relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) will eventually transition to a secondary progressive course (SPMS).3 Patients with SPMS may live with significant impairment in physical and cognitive functions.4 Early identification of disease progression is important.2

Join Dr. Barry Singer from the MS Center for Innovations in Care at the Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St Louis, Missouri as well as Dr. Ann Bass from the Neurology Center of San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas as they share their real-world clinical perspectives on the management of patients with more progressed RMS, including those with aSPMS, and MAYZENT as a treatment option. Together, they will explore the following decision points:

• How to actively identify first signs of RMS progression
• A therapy for progressing RMS, including active SPMS
• What to consider when getting patients started on MAYZENT, a disease-modifying treatment

There is no cure for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic and progressive disease in which disability accumulates over time, but available therapies may help modify the course by reducing disease activity. The MS specialist, Dr. Pavle Repovic, discusses KESIMPTA®, a treatment option offering adult RMS patients powerful efficacy with a demonstrated safety profile and flexible self-administration.

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Here to discuss staying ahead of progression in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) is Dr. Timothy William West. Dr. West walks us through pathophysiological changes in progressing RMS patients, a patient case demonstrating why patients may experience increasing disability, and key data on MAYZENT®(siponimod), the first and only oral disease-modifying therapy studied and proven to delay disability progression in a more progressed RMS patient population.

MAYZENT was evaluated in EXPAND—the largest Phase III study of secondary progressive MS (SPMS) patients to date (N=1651), which included a broad range of patients with moderate-to-advanced disability. Dr. West discusses clinical data from EXPAND including data of up to 5 years from a preplanned interim analysis of the EXPAND open-label extension study.