African Ancestry Is a Predictor Factor to Secondary Progression in Clinical Course of Multiple Sclerosis
Table 1
Initial clinical factors and progression characteristics according to gender and ethnicity.
Characteristics
General
Female
Male
African descent
White
(%)
150
119 (79.3)
31 (20.7)
33 (22.0)
117 (78.0)
Age at disease onset
Mean ± SD
Involved functional systems (FS) at onset
1 FS (%)
104 (69.3)
86 (72.3)
18 (58.1)
23 (69.7)
81 (69.2)
≥2 FS (%)
46 (30.7)
33 (27.7)
13 (41.9)
10 (30.3)
36 (30.8)
Initial symptoms of MS (%)
Pyramidal
55 (36.3)
39 (32.8)
16 (51.6)
14 (42.4)
41 (35.0)
Cerebellar
22 (14.7)
15 (12.6)
7 (22.6)
3 (9.1)
19 (16.2)
Visual
23 (15.3)
19 (16.0)
4 (12.9)
4 (12.1)
19 (16.2)
Sensory
67 (44.7)
52 (43.7)
15 (48.4)
17 (51.5)
50 (42.7)
Brainstem
33 (22.0)
28 (23.5)
5 (16.1)
6 (18.2)
27 (23.1)
Sphincter
6 (4.0)
4 (3.4)
2 (6.5)
1 (3.0)
5 (4.3)
Psychiatric
2 (1.3)
2 (1,7)
0
1 (3.0)
1 (0.9)
First interval between exacerbations, years
Short (≤2 years)
85 (56.7)
64 (53.8)
21 (67.7)
19 (57.6)
66 (56.4)
Long (>2 years)
65 (43.3)
55 (46.2)
10 (32.3)
14 (42.4)
51 (43.0)
Recovery from 1st exacerbation
Complete recovery
124 (82.7)
100 (84.0)
24 (77.4)
24 (72.7)
100 (85.5)
Incomplete recovery
26 (17.3)
19 (15.9)
7 (22.6)
9 (27.2)
17 (14.5)
Relapses in the first year of disease (%)
1 exacerbation
123 (82.0)
98 (82.4)
25 (80.6)
24 (72.7)
99 (84.6)
≥2 exacerbations
27 (18)
21 (17.6)
6 (19.4)
9 (27.3)
18 (15.4)
Benign disease (%)
Yes
120 (80.0)
97 (81.5)
23 (74.2)
20 (60.6)
100 (85.5)*
No
80 (20)
22 (18.5)
8 (25.8)
13 (39.4)
17 (14.5)
Malignant disease (%)
Yes
6 (4.0)
4 (3.4)
2 (6.5)
4 (12.1)*
2 (1.7)
No
144 (96)
115 (96.6)
29 (93.5)
29 (87.9)
115 (98.3)
Secondary progression (%)
Yes
59 (39.3)
45 (37.8)
14 (45.2)
17 (51.5)
42 (35.9)
No
91 (60.7)
74 (62.2)
17 (54.8)
16 (48.5)
75 (64.1)
FS: functional system of Kurtzke’s EDSS scale; benign disease: at 10 years of disease EDSS 3 or less; malign disease: at 5 years of disease EDSS 6 or more; *.
