title: Effect of total lymphoid irradiation in chronic progressive multiple sclerosis.
abstract: Total lymphoid irradiation (TLI; 1980 cGy) or sham irradiation was given to 40 patients with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) in a prospective, randomised, double-blind study. During mean follow-up of 21 months, MS patients treated with TLI had less functional decline than sham-irradiated MS patients (p less than 0.01). A significant relation was noted between absolute blood lymphocyte counts in the first year after TLI and subsequent course, patients with higher lymphocyte counts generally having a worse prognosis (p less than 0.01). TLI was well tolerated and associated with only mild short-term, and to date, long-term side-effects.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Devereux
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Troiano
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hafstein
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zito
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavenhar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vidaver
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Dowling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000209:etiology; D011897:Random Allocation