Cognitive impairment in probable multiple sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and characterise cognitive impairment in the very early stage of multiple sclerosis (MS), in which patients are still diagnosed as suffering from probable MS.


METHODS
The Brief Repeatable Battery-Neuropsychological (BRB-N) that has been validated for MS patients was used. Abnormal performance was defined as one standard deviation below the mean reported for healthy age matched subjects. Neurological disability and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed for all patients. Correlation coefficients were calculated between disease burden variables and performance on the BRB-N.


RESULTS
Sixty seven patients with probable MS were evaluated within a mean of one month of the onset of new neurological symptoms. Evidence for the presence of cognitive impairment was shown in 53.7% of patients. Verbal abilities and attention span were most frequently affected. Impairment was not correlated with neurological disability or MRI disease burden.


CONCLUSIONS
Prevalent cognitive impairment already exists at onset of MS.
Achiron
A
A
Multiple Sclerosis Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, 52621 Israel. achiron@post.tau.ac.il
Barak
Y
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors