[Oligoclonal IgG bands in the cerebrospinal fluid of portuguese patients with multiple sclerosis: negative results indicate benign disease].
We assessed the frequency of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) restricted oligoclonal IgG bands (IgG-OCB) in Portuguese multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and its relationship with outcome. Paired CSF/serum samples of 406 patients with neurological disorders were submitted to isoelectric focusing with immunodetection of IgG. Ninety-two patients had definite MS; non-MS cases were assembled in groups inflammatory/infectious diseases (ID, n=141) and other/controls (OD, n=173). We found in the MS group: mean duration, 38.9 months; clinically isolated syndromes, 24%; relapsing/remitting course (RR), 65%; in RR patients the mean EDSS was 2.1 and the mean index of progression was 0.31. Positive patterns significantly predominated in MS (82.6%; ID, 40.4%; OD, 3.5%). The sensitivity and the specificity of positive IgG-OCB for MS diagnosis was 82.6% and 79.9%, respectively. The sole statistically significant difference in the MS group was the lower progression index observed in negative cases. We conclude that the frequency of positive IgG-OCB patterns in our MS patients fits most values reported in the literature, and that negative results indicate benign disease.
Sá
Maria José
MJ
Head of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Unit, Head of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Outpatient Clinical Care. mjsa@med.up.pt
Sequeira
Lucinda
L
Rio
Maria Edite
ME
Thompson
Edward J
EJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007525:Isoelectric Focusing; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D043025:Oligoclonal Bands / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D011174:Portugal
D043025:Oligoclonal Bands