title: Age at onset determines the occurrence of the progressive phase of multiple sclerosis.
abstract: We investigated the influence of age at disease onset on timing of the progressive phase in 957 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Age at onset powerfully predicts the probability of developing a primary progressive form of the disease. Moreover, age at onset strongly determines the time to conversion to secondary progression for patients presenting with a relapsing form. This suggests that age at onset strongly influences the neurodegenerative component of MS.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Investigation Clinique, AP-HP, Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière-UPMC, Paris, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stankoff
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mrejen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tourbah
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fontaine
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lyon-Caen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lubetzki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosenheim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk