Pregnant women with mild chronic hypertension were randomly assigned to receive medication targeting a normal blood pressure (<140/90 mm Hg) or to receive no treatment unless severe hypertension ...(>160/105 mm Hg) developed. The incidence of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes was significantly lower in the active-treatment group, without an increase in low birth weight.
Summary
Objective
To identify potential pharmacokinetic interactions between the pharmaceutical formulation of cannabidiol (CBD; Epidiolex) and the commonly used antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) through an ...open‐label safety study. Serum levels were monitored to identify interactions between CBD and AEDs.
Methods
In 39 adults and 42 children, CBD dose was started at 5 mg/kg/day and increased every 2 weeks by 5 mg/kg/day up to a maximum of 50 mg/kg/day. Serum AED levels were obtained at baseline prior to CBD initiation and at most study visits. AED doses were adjusted if it was determined that a clinical symptom or laboratory result was related to a potential interaction. The Mixed Procedure was used to determine if there was a significant change in the serum level of each of the 19 AEDs with increasing CBD dose. AEDs with interactions seen in initial analysis were plotted for mean change in serum level over time. Subanalyses were performed to determine if the frequency of sedation in participants was related to the mean serum N‐desmethylclobazam level, and if aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were different in participants taking concomitant valproate.
Results
Increases in topiramate, rufinamide, and N‐desmethylclobazam and decrease in clobazam (all p < 0.01) serum levels were seen with increasing CBD dose. Increases in serum levels of zonisamide (p = 0.02) and eslicarbazepine (p = 0.04) with increasing CBD dose were seen in adults. Except for clobazam and desmethylclobazam, all noted mean level changes were within the accepted therapeutic range. Sedation was more frequent with higher N‐desmethylclobazam levels in adults (p = 0.02), and AST/ALT levels were significantly higher in participants taking concomitant valproate (p < 0.01).
Significance
Significantly changed serum levels of clobazam, rufinamide, topiramate, zonisamide, and eslicarbazepine were seen. Abnormal liver function test results were noted in participants taking concomitant valproate. This study emphasizes the importance of monitoring serum AED levels and LFTs during treatment with CBD.
OBJECTIVETo generate a national multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence estimate for the United States by applying a validated algorithm to multiple administrative health claims (AHC) datasets.
METHODSA ...validated algorithm was applied to private, military, and public AHC datasets to identify adult cases of MS between 2008 and 2010. In each dataset, we determined the 3-year cumulative prevalence overall and stratified by age, sex, and census region. We applied insurance-specific and stratum-specific estimates to the 2010 US Census data and pooled the findings to calculate the 2010 prevalence of MS in the United States cumulated over 3 years. We also estimated the 2010 prevalence cumulated over 10 years using 2 models and extrapolated our estimate to 2017.
RESULTSThe estimated 2010 prevalence of MS in the US adult population cumulated over 10 years was 309.2 per 100,000 (95% confidence interval CI 308.1–310.1), representing 727,344 cases. During the same time period, the MS prevalence was 450.1 per 100,000 (95% CI 448.1–451.6) for women and 159.7 (95% CI 158.7–160.6) for men (female:male ratio 2.8). The estimated 2010 prevalence of MS was highest in the 55- to 64-year age group. A US north-south decreasing prevalence gradient was identified. The estimated MS prevalence is also presented for 2017.
CONCLUSIONThe estimated US national MS prevalence for 2010 is the highest reported to date and provides evidence that the north-south gradient persists. Our rigorous algorithm-based approach to estimating prevalence is efficient and has the potential to be used for other chronic neurologic conditions.
IMPORTANCE: Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19 prompted the need to gather information on clinical outcomes and risk factors associated with morbidity and mortality in patients with multiple ...sclerosis (MS) and concomitant SARS-CoV-2 infections. OBJECTIVE: To examine outcomes and risk factors associated with COVID-19 clinical severity in a large, diverse cohort of North American patients with MS. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This analysis used deidentified, cross-sectional data on patients with MS and SARS-CoV-2 infection reported by health care professionals in North American academic and community practices between April 1, 2020, and December 12, 2020, in the COVID-19 Infections in MS Registry. Health care professionals were asked to report patients after a minimum of 7 days from initial symptom onset and after sufficient time had passed to observe the COVID-19 disease course through resolution of acute illness or death. Data collection began April 1, 2020, and is ongoing. EXPOSURES: Laboratory-positive SARS-CoV-2 infection or highly suspected COVID-19. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Clinical outcome with 4 levels of increasing severity: not hospitalized, hospitalization only, admission to the intensive care unit and/or required ventilator support, and death. RESULTS: Of 1626 patients, most had laboratory-positive SARS-CoV-2 infection (1345 82.7%), were female (1202 74.0%), and had relapsing-remitting MS (1255 80.4%). A total of 996 patients (61.5%) were non-Hispanic White, 337 (20.8%) were Black, and 190 (11.7%) were Hispanic/Latinx. The mean (SD) age was 47.7 (13.2) years, and 797 (49.5%) had 1 or more comorbidity. The overall mortality rate was 3.3% (95% CI, 2.5%-4.3%). Ambulatory disability and older age were each independently associated with increased odds of all clinical severity levels compared with those not hospitalized after adjusting for other risk factors (nonambulatory: hospitalization only, odds ratio OR, 2.8 95% CI, 1.6-4.8; intensive care unit/required ventilator support, OR, 3.5 95% CI, 1.6-7.8; death, OR, 25.4 95% CI, 9.3-69.1; age every 10 years: hospitalization only, OR, 1.3 95% CI, 1.1-1.6; intensive care unit/required ventilator support, OR, 1.3 95% CI, 0.99-1.7; death, OR, 1.8 95% CI, 1.2-2.6). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this registry-based cross-sectional study, increased disability was independently associated with worse clinical severity including death from COVID-19. Other risk factors for worse outcomes included older age, Black race, cardiovascular comorbidities, and recent treatment with corticosteroids. Knowledge of these risk factors may improve the treatment of patients with MS and COVID-19 by helping clinicians identify patients requiring more intense monitoring or COVID-19 treatment.
Background:
Psychiatric comorbidity is associated with lower quality of life, more fatigue, and reduced adherence to disease-modifying therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Objectives:
The objectives ...of this review are to estimate the incidence and prevalence of selected comorbid psychiatric disorders in MS and evaluate the quality of included studies.
Methods:
We searched the PubMed, PsychInfo, SCOPUS, and Web of Knowledge databases and reference lists of retrieved articles. Abstracts were screened for relevance by two independent reviewers, followed by full-text review. Data were abstracted by one reviewer, and verified by a second reviewer. Study quality was evaluated using a standardized tool. For population-based studies we assessed heterogeneity quantitatively using the I2 statistic, and conducted meta-analyses.
Results:
We included 118 studies in this review. Among population-based studies, the prevalence of anxiety was 21.9% (95% CI: 8.76%–35.0%), while it was 14.8% for alcohol abuse, 5.83% for bipolar disorder, 23.7% (95% CI: 17.4%–30.0%) for depression, 2.5% for substance abuse, and 4.3% (95% CI: 0%–10.3%) for psychosis.
Conclusion:
This review confirms that psychiatric comorbidity, particularly depression and anxiety, is common in MS. However, the incidence of psychiatric comorbidity remains understudied. Future comparisons across studies would be enhanced by developing a consistent approach to measuring psychiatric comorbidity, and reporting of age-, sex-, and ethnicity-specific estimates.
Cognitive impairment is a common and impactful symptom of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Cognitive outcome measures are often used in cross-sectional studies, but their performance as ...longitudinal outcome measures in clinical trials is not widely researched. In this study, we used data from a large clinical trial to describe change on the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) over up to 144 weeks of follow-up.
We used the data set from DECIDE (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01064401), a large randomized controlled RRMS trial to describe change on the SDMT and PASAT over 144 weeks of follow-up. We compared change on these cognitive outcomes with change on the timed 25-foot walk (T25FW), a well-established physical outcome measure. We investigated several definitions for clinically meaningful change: any change, 4-point change, 8-point change, and 20% change for the SDMT, any change, 4-point change, and 20% change for the PASAT, and 20% change for the T25FW.
DECIDE included 1,814 trial participants. SDMT and PASAT scores steadily improved throughout follow-up: the SDMT from a mean 48.2 (SD, 16.1) points at baseline to 52.6 (SD 15.2) at 144 weeks and the PASAT from 47.0 (SD 11.3) at baseline to 50.0 (SD 10.8) at 144 weeks. This improvement in scores is most likely due to a practice effect. Throughout the trial, participants were more likely to experience improvement than worsening of their SDMT and PASAT performance, whereas the number of worsening events on the T25FW steadily increased. Changing the definition of clinically meaningful change for the SDMT and PASAT or using a 6-month confirmation changed the overall number of worsening or improvement events but did not affect the overall behavior of these measures.
Our findings suggest that the SDMT and PASAT scores do not accurately reflect the steady cognitive decline that people with RRMS experience. Both outcomes show postbaseline increases in scores, which complicates the interpretation of these outcome measures in clinical trials. More research into the size of these changes is needed before recommending a general threshold for clinically meaningful longitudinal change.
Little is known about how symptom severity in the various neurologic domains commonly affected by multiple sclerosis (MS) varies by age, sex, and race/ethnicity.
This was a retrospective study of ...patients with MS attending 2 tertiary centers in the New York City metropolitan area, who self-identified as White, African American (AA), or Hispanic American (HA). Disability was rated with Patient-Determined Disability Steps (PDDS) and symptom severity, with SymptoMScreen (SyMS), a validated battery for assessing symptoms in 12 domains. Analyses comparing race, sex, and age groups were performed using analysis of variance models and Tukey honestly significant difference tests to control the overall type I error. A multivariable model was constructed to predict good self-rated health (SRH) that included demographic variables, PDDS, and SyMS domain scores.
The sample consisted of 2,622 patients with MS (age 46.4 years; 73.6% female; 66.4% White, 21.7% AA, and 11.9% HA). Men had higher adjusted PDDS than women (
= 0.012), but similar total SyMS scores. Women reported higher fatigue and anxiety scores, whereas men had higher walking and dexterity scores. AAs and HAs had higher symptom domain scores than Whites in each of the 12 domains and worse SRH. In a multivariable logistic model, only pain, walking, depression, fatigue, and global disability (PDDS), but not sex or race/ethnicity, predicted good SRH.
AA and HA race/ethnicity was associated with higher overall disability, higher symptom severity in each of the 12 domains commonly affected by MS, and worse SRH relative to Whites. However, only symptom severity and disability, and not demographic variables, predicted good SRH.
Distal ischemia is a rare complication in patients undergoing placement of an arteriovenous (AV) fistula or AV graft. There are limited studies on its frequency, risk factors, clinical consequences, ...or feasibility of subsequent access.
A prospective vascular access database from a large academic medical center was queried retrospectively to identify 1498 patients (mean age 56±15 years, 48% female patients, 73% Black patients) undergoing placement of at least one vascular access from 2011 to 2020. For patients who developed access-related distal ischemia requiring surgical intervention, we determined the frequency of distal ischemia, clinical risk factors, and subsequent outcomes.
Severe access-related distal ischemia occurred in 28 patients (1.9%; 95% confidence interval, 1.3% to 2.7%). The frequency was 0.2% for forearm AV fistulas, 0.9% for upper arm AV fistulas, 2.4% for forearm AV grafts, 2.2% for upper arm AV grafts, and 2.8% for thigh AV grafts. Risk factors independently associated with distal ischemia included female sex (odds ratio OR, 3.64 95% confidence interval, 1.52 to 8.72), peripheral vascular disease (OR, 6.28 2.84 to 13.87), and coronary artery disease (OR, 2.37 1.08 to 5.23). Surgical interventions included ligation, excision, plication (banding), and other surgical procedures. Five patients developed tissue necrosis. A subsequent AV graft was placed in 13 patients, of whom only one (8%) developed distal ischemia requiring intervention.
Access-related distal ischemia requiring intervention was rare in this study and more common in women and patients with peripheral vascular disease or coronary artery disease. In some cases, a subsequent vascular access could be placed with a low likelihood of recurrent distal ischemia.
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