ECTRIMS 2021 | A score to predict treatment response in pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis

Ermelinda De Meo, MD, University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy, discusses the results from a study aiming to predict interferon-beta (IFN-β) treatment failure in pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), for which there is currently no consensus definition of inadequate treatment response. It was found that the presence of at least three new T2 or gadolinium enhancing (Gd+) lesions observed through magnetic resonance imagining (MRI), combined with the occurrence of at least two clinical relapses during the first year of treatment, were independent predictors of treatment failure and overall long-term disability. This score should be further defined in patients treated with fingolimod, the current standard of care for pediatric MS. This interview took place at the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) congress 2021.