Evolution of EDSS in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: Progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS) is a type of MS the Secondary progressive MS (SPMS) typically follows a relapsing course before progressing steadily, while primary progressive MS (PPMS) involves a gradual disability build-up from the start.

Objectives/aims: To describe the duration of illness in patients with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PMS).

Methods: A retrospective observational study involving 33 patients diagnosed with PME, 10 in the PPMS and 23 SPMS treated at tertiary hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. The medical records were analyzed between the months of December/23 to March/24. Person's Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis.

Results: Of the 33 patients evaluated with EMP, in the group with EDSS less than or equal to 6.5; 85% were women and in the group with EDSS greater than 7 the percentage of women reduced to 53.8% (p 0.05). The mean age at the onset of symptoms was 32.79 years. The time between the onset of symptoms and the diagnosis of the disease was 5.25 years, both for the primarily progressive and secondarily progressive forms. The initial EDSS was 2.0 and the final 6.5, with a difference of 4.5 EDSS points acquired approximately 16 years after the disease. Furthermore, it is observed that patients with current EDSS greater than or equal to 7 showed partial regression of symptoms during outbreaks in 100% of cases, compared to current EDSS less than and equal to 6.5, in which 70% showed incomplete regression.

Conclusion: The evolutionary description of EDSS in patients with EMP can help us better understand the history of the disease. A homogeneity in the prevalence of gender is noticed with an increase in EDSS, with the onset of symptoms in this population being around 32 years old.