Marburg multiple sclerosis

Marburg multiple sclerosis, also known as fulminant multiple sclerosis, is considered one of the multiple sclerosis borderline diseases, which is a collection of diseases classified by some as MS variants and by others as different diseases. Other diseases in this group are Neuromyelitis optica (NMO), Balo concentric sclerosis, and Schilder's disease.[1] The term malignant is sometime used to describe the grave course of this MS variant. However, malignant multiple sclerosis is a broader term used to describe MS patients who reach significant level of disability in less than 5 years from their first symptoms [2]

It took its name from Otto Marburg. It can be diagnosed in vivo with an MRI scan.[3] If Marburg Disease occurs in the form of a single large lesion, it can be radialogically indistinguishable from a brain tumor or abscess. In such cases, craniotomy and biopsy is needed to exclude other pathologies.[4] It is usually lethal, but it has been found to be responsive to Mitoxantrone[5] and Alemtuzumab,[6] and it has also been responsive to autologous stem cell transplantation.[7] Recently it has been shown that it presents a heterogeneous response to medication, as does standard MS.[8]

References

  1. ^ Fontaine B (2001). "Borderline forms of multiple sclerosis" (in French). Rev. Neurol. (Paris) 157 (8–9 Pt 2): 929–34. PMID 11787357. 
  2. ^ Lublin FD, Reingold SC (April 1996). "Defining the clinical course of multiple sclerosis: Results of an international survey". Neurology 46 (4): 907–11. PMID 8780061. 
  3. ^ Capello E, Mancardi GL (November 2004). "Marburg type and Balò's concentric sclerosis: rare and acute variants of multiple sclerosis". Neurol. Sci. 25 (Suppl): S361–3. doi:10.1007/s10072-004-0341-1. PMID 15727234. 
  4. ^ Walid MS, Sanoufa M (2010). "The diagnosis of Marburg Disease is course-dependent". GMS Ger Med Sci. http://www.egms.de/static/en/journals/gms/2010-8/000095.shtml. 
  5. ^ Jeffery DR, Lefkowitz DS, Crittenden JP (January 2004). "Treatment of Marburg variant multiple sclerosis with mitoxantrone". J Neuroimaging 14 (1): 58–62. PMID 14748210. 
  6. ^ Gormley KM, Zajicek JP (2006). "Alemtuzumab and craniotomy for severe acute demyelinating illness". 16th Meeting of the European Neurological Society. http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php?XNABSTRACT_ID=23714&XNSPRACHE_ID=2&XNKONGRESS_ID=31&XNMASKEN_ID=900. 
  7. ^ Kimiskidis VK, Sakellari I, Tsimourtou V, et al. (2007). "Autologous stem-cell transplantation in malignant multiple sclerosis: a case with a favorable long-term outcome". Multiple Sclerosis 14 (2): 278–83. doi:10.1177/1352458507082604. PMID 17942513. 
  8. ^ Leussink VI, Lehmann HC, Meyer Zu Hörste G, Hartung HP, Stüve O, Kieseier BC. (2008). "Rituximab induces clinical stabilization in a patient with fulminant multiple sclerosis not responding to natalizumab: Evidence for disease heterogeneity". Journal of Neurology 255 (9): 1436–8. doi:10.1007/s00415-008-0956-x. PMID 18685916. 

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