Analysis of parameters and prognostic factors associated with a benign evolution in Multiple Sclerosis patients

• Grant number: 22/09951-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2022
• End date: September 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Alfredo Damasceno
• Grantee: Josué de Almeida David
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the main neurological diseases affecting the young adult population, significantly impacting their daily activities. It is a disabling and autoimmune disease, with no clear etiology, different symptoms and a complex and time-consuming diagnosis. Has a unpredictable course, with different possible patterns, which makes it difficult to choose efficient therapeutic approaches and conducts. However, a small portion of the patients develop a benign form of the disease, condition known as Benign MS. In this disease pattern, in broad discussion in literature, the patients present little or no dysfunction, even after a long period of disease evolution. Moreover, many of the patients considered benign by the used scale (EDSS), a predominantly motor scale, have cognitive deficits, fatigue and depression. In addition, MS has significant incidence variances between countries, and there are also significant prevalence differences, from 6 to 73%, among different MS benign cohorts present in the literature; making it necessary to understand the influence of environmental, racial and genetic factors on the prevalence and disease prognosis, as well as to understand the true prevalence of MS benign in the population, using, in addition to the EDSS, scales that assess other possible deficits. However, there is not enough scientific material to understand the characteristics of the diseases inherent to Brazil, as well as the information about benign MS is scarce. Therefore, further research is needed to understand how the disease affects the population and to reduce its impact. Thus, this project seeks to analyze data from all patients diagnosed with MS followed up at the neurology outpatient clinic of Hospital das Clinicas (HC) of UNICAMP, in order to search for factors associated with benign forms of the disease in the Brazilian reality. For the study, patient records, imaging exams and a database platform will be used. Based on this information, analyzes will be carried out comparing the evolution of the different patients over time, using discussions in the literature and the obtained data, to better understand the parameters associated with benignity (AU)