Low Incidence of Asymptomatic Contrast-Enhancing Brain Lesions in Japanese Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Tanaka, Masami; Matsui, Masaru; Tahara, Masayuki; Tanaka, Keiko
- Source
- European Neurology. 2011, Vol. 65 Issue 3, p119-122. 4p. 1 Graph.
- Subject
- *MULTIPLE sclerosis
*MAGNETIC resonance imaging
*DISEASE relapse
*BRAIN diseases
*MEDICAL records
- Language
- ISSN
- 0014-3022
Background: The number of contrast-enhancing brain lesions is used as an endpoint in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials. However, the incidence of asymptomatic contrast-enhancing brain lesions (AEBLs) in Japanese patients with MS has not been determined. Objective: To describe the number of AEBLs per scan in Japanese patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 23 Japanese patients with RRMS who showed (1) a stable or improving condition for at least 30 days before a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination and (2) at least one relapse in the preceding year or two relapses in the preceding 2 years. Results: The percentage of patients with AEBLs was 39.1% (9/23 patients) and the number of AEBLs per scan was 0.37. Conclusions: The results suggest that the disease activity shown by brain MRI was lower in Japanese patients with MS compared with that in Caucasian patients. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]