Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39643429›Full record

ArticleJournal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry2025

Disease-modifying treatment and disability progression in subclasses of patients with primary progressive MS: results from the Big MS Data Network.

Johannes Lorscheider, Alessio Signori, Suvitha Subramaniam, Pascal Benkert, Sandra Vukusic, Maria Trojano, Jan Hillert, Anna Glaser, Robert Hyde, Tim Spelman and 37 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Big data in multiple sclerosis.Current opinion in neurology · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

47 authors.

Johannes LorscheiderDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland johannes.lorscheider@usb.ch.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1100-2506
Alessio SignoriDepartment of Health Sciences, Section of Biostatistics, University of Genoa, Genova, Italy.
Suvitha SubramaniamDepartment of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Pascal BenkertDepartment of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Sandra VukusicService de Neurologie, sclérose en plaques, pathologies de la myéline et neuro-inflammation, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
Maria TrojanoDepartment of Translational Biomedicine and Neurosciences - DiBraiN, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.
Jan HillertClinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7386-6732
Anna GlaserClinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Robert HydeIndependent Healthcare and Real-World Evidence Consultant, Zug, Switzerland.
Tim SpelmanClinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Melinda MagyariDepartment of Neurology, The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0972-5222
Frederik ElberlingDepartment of Neurology, The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark.
Luigi PontieriDepartment of Neurology, The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark.
Nils Koch-HenriksenDepartment of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.
Per Soelberg SørensenDepartment of Neurology, The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark.
Oliver GerlachAcademic MS Center Zuyd, Department of Neurology, Zuyderland Medical Center, Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands.
Alexandre PratHôpital Notre Dame, CHUM and Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Marc GirardHôpital Notre Dame, CHUM and Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Sara EichauHospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain.
Pierre GrammondHotel-Dieu de Levis, Levis, Quebec, Canada.
Dana HorakovaDepartment of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Charles University in Prague, 1st Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic.
Cristina Ramo-TelloNeurosciences, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Barcelona, Spain.
Izanne RoosClinical Outcomes Research Unit (CORe), Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Katherine BuzzardDepartment of Neurosciences, Box Hill Hospital, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia.
Jeanette Lechner ScottHunter New England Health, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
José Luis Sánchez-MenoyoNeurology, Galdakao Hospital, Spain, Spain.
Raed AlroughaniAmiri Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Julie PrévostCentre Integre de Sante et de Services Sociaux des Laurentides, Saint-Jerome, Quebec, Canada.
Jens KuhleDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6963-8892
Orla GraySouth Eastern HSC Trust, Belfast, UK.
Guillaume MatheyDepartment of Neurology, Nancy University Hospital, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5747-9169
Laure MichelCentre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, Rennes, France.
Jonathan CironDepartment of Neurology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3386-6308
Jérôme De SèzeDepartment of Neurology and Clinical Investigation Center, CHU de Strasbourg and University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Elisabeth MaillartNeurology, AP-HP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7699-0328
Aurelie RuetService de Neurologie, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Pierre LabaugeCHU de Montpellier, MS Unit, University of Montpellier (MUSE), Montpellier, France.
Helene ZephirCHU Lille, CRCSEP Lille, Université de Lille, Lille, France.
Arnaud KwiatkowskiDepartment of Neurology, Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul, Lille, France.
Anneke van der WaltDepartment of Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4278-7003
Tomas KalincikClinical Outcomes Research Unit (CORe), Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3778-1376
Helmut ButzkuevenDepartment of Neurology, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Italian MS Register
Observatoire Français de la Sclérose en Plaques (OFSEP)
MSBase Study Group
Swedish MS Registry
Big MS Data Network

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEffectiveness of disease-modifying treatment (DMT) in people affected by primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) is limited. Whether specific subgroups may benefit more from DMT in a real-world setting remains unclear. Our aim was to investigate the potential effect of DMT on disability worsening among patients with PPMS stratified by different disability trajectories.

methodsWithin the framework of the Big MS Data network, we merged data from the Observatoire Français de la Sclérose en Plaques, the Swedish and Italian MS registries, and MSBase. We identified patients with PPMS that started DMT or were never treated during the observed period. Subpopulations with comparable baseline characteristics were selected by propensity score matching. Disability outcomes were analysed in time-to-recurrent event analyses, which were repeated in subclasses with different disability trajectories determined by latent class mixed models.

resultsOf the 3243 included patients, we matched 739 treated and 1330 untreated patients with a median follow-up of 3 years after pairwise censoring. No difference in the risk of confirmed disability worsening (CDW) was observed between the groups in the fully matched dataset (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.23, p=0.127). However, we found a lower risk for CDW among the class of treated patients with an aggressive disability trajectory (n=360, HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.92, p=0.014).

conclusionsIn line with previous studies, our data suggest that DMT does not ameliorate disability worsening in PPMS, in general. However, we observed a beneficial effect of DMT on disability worsening in patients with aggressive predicted disability trajectories.

Indexed as

Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic ProgressiveAdultDisability EvaluationDisease ProgressionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRegistriesTreatment OutcomeMULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Identifiers

PMID39643429
PMCPMC12171517

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.