title: [Oligoclonal IgG bands in the cerebrospinal fluid of portuguese patients with multiple sclerosis: negative results indicate benign disease].
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Head of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Unit, Head of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Outpatient Clinical Care. mjsa@med.up.pt
authors.forename: Maria José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sá
authors.forename: Lucinda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sequeira
authors.forename: Maria Edite
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rio
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D043025:Oligoclonal Bands