Epidemiological, demographical features and familial frecuency of the patients with multi̇ple sclerosis followed in upper euphrates section

The aim of the present study was to reveal age and symptoms at disease onset in patients with MS, frequency of individual clinical subtypes and their clinical courses during the follow-up of patients, and the differences between these clinical subtypes, and establish familial frequency and the outcomes of visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and oligoclonal band (OCB) positivity. The study included patients residing in the Upper Euphrates Section (mainly the provinces of Elazığ, Tunceli, Bingöl, Muş) who were diagnosed with MS according to the revised McDonald criteria and who had complete medical records. Demographic data and data about the cases were retrieved from the database of Firat University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology. A total of 257 patients with MS, who were followed at Firat University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology were included in the study. Of these patients, 31.9% were males and 68.1% were females. Female-to-male ratio was 2.13/1, the mean age at disease onset was 31.90±9.6 years in whole group, 31.94±9.6 years in males, and 31.89±9.2 in females. Sensorial and motor symptoms comprised the majority of the initial presenting symptoms. The clinical course was characterized by relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) in 72.37%, secondary progressive MS (SPMS) in 19.07%, primary progressive MS (PPMS) in 4.28%, and benign MS (BMS) in 4.28% of the patients. The incidence of familial MS was 8.9%. In addition, VEPs were normal in 22.6% of the patients, whereas 77.4% had prolonged VEPs. OCBs were positive in 96.1% of the patients and negative in 3.9% of the patients. Our study results show that MS most commonly affects women aged between 20 and 40 years in the Upper Euphrates Section, and the most common type of MS is RRMS which typically starts motor and sensorial manifestations. Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, Upper Euphrates Section, epidemiology, Expanded Disability Status Scale.