Mitoxantrone treatment in patients with early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

We investigated the clinical and MRI effects of mitoxantrone (MITOX) administered to 45 patients during the first five years of highly active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Differences occurring between the end of treatment and follow-up (clinical mean: 3.6 years; brain MR: 1.8 years) with respect to baseline variables (EDSS, annualized relapse rate, active T2 lesions, new T1 lesions and number of Gd-enhancing lesions) were analysed using parametric and non-parametric tests. One patient developed leukemia four months after the end of the treatment; no other serious adverse events occurred during treatment and the follow-up period. A clinically relevant reduction in the annualized relapse rate ( P < 0.0001 at end of treatment and P < 0.0001 at follow-up) and improvement in the EDSS (P < 0.0001 at end of treatment and P = 0.0005 at follow-up) was found. At the end of treatment, 53% of patients experienced no increase in active T2 lesions, while 73% showed no increase in the number of new T1 lesions. At follow-up, 41 out of 45 (91%) patients showed a stable MRI pattern and were active-scan free. Despite potential serious adverse events, MITOX may be considered an option in selected patients with very active early MS

1-year prospective real life monitoring of asthma control and quality of life in Italy

Objectives: The study aimed at prospectively evaluating the evolution of asthma control in Italy, to evaluate the reasons for lack of asthma control, perceived quality of life (QoL) and association with level of asthma control, the impact of pharmacological treatment, the number of exacerbations and the healthcare resource consumption.Methods: PRISMA (PRospectIve Study on asthMA control) was an observational study performed in asthmatic patients including a cross-sectional phase and a 12-month prospective phase. Asthma control was assessed with the Asthma Control Test™ (ACT) and QoL was evaluated with EuroQoL-5D questionnaire filled in and collected during 5 clinic visits together with all the other data.Results: The prospective phase included 1017 patients with uncontrolled (55.7%) or partly controlled asthma (44.3%). Out of the 739 patients evaluable after 12 months, 22.2% achieved full asthma control (ACT score = 25) and 58.7% reached a good control (ACT score: 20-24). The improvement in asthma control was associated with improved QoL and reduced hospital visits. The main reasons for lack of asthma control were comorbidities, continued exposure to irritants/triggers and poor adherence to therapy. The frequency of exacerbations was lower in patients with controlled asthma.A fixed combination therapy with an inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting β2 agonist was reported by 77.0% of patients. A better asthma control and improved QoL were achieved with extrafine beclomethasone/formoterol compared to either budesonide/formoterol or fluticasone/salmeterol.Conclusions: An improvement in asthma control and QoL can be achieved during a 1-year monitoring in a real life setting. Extrafine beclomethasone/formoterol was associated with significant benefit in terms of asthma control and QoL compared to large-particles combinations.ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01110460. © 2012 Terzano et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Natalizumab plus interferon beta-1a reduces lesion formation in relapsing multiple sclerosis

The SENTINEL study showed that the addition of natalizumab improved outcomes for patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS)who had experienced disease activitywhile receiving interferon beta-1a (IFNβ-1a) alone. Previously unreported secondary and tertiary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures are presented here. Patients received natalizumab 300 mg (n=589) or placebo (n=582) intravenously every 4 weeks plus IFNβ-1a 30 μg intramuscularly once weekly. Annual MRI scans allowed comparison of a range of MRI end points versus baseline. Over 2 years, 67% of patients receiving natalizumab plus IFNβ-1a remained free of newor enlarging T2- lesions compared with 30% of patients receiving IFNβ-1a alone. The mean change from baseline in T2 lesion volume over 2 years decreased in patients receiving natalizumab plus IFNβ-1a and increased in those receiving IFNβ-1a alone (–277.5 mm3 versus 525.6 mm3; pb0.001). Compared with IFNβ-1a alone, add-on natalizumab therapy resulted in a smaller increase in mean T1-hypointense lesion volume after 2 years (1821.3 mm3 versus 2210.5mm3; pb0.001), a smaller mean number of new T1-hypointense lesions over 2 years (2.3 versus 4.1; pb0.001), and a slower rate of brain atrophy during the second year of therapy (–0.31% versus –0.40%; p=0.020). Natalizumab add-on therapy reduced gadolinium-enhancing, T1-hypointense, and T2 MRI lesion activity and slowed brain atrophy progression in patients with relapsing MS who experienced disease activity despite treatment with IFNβ-1a alon

Prognostic impact of diabetes and prediabetes on survival outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure: a post-hoc analysis of the GISSI-HF (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nella Insufficienza Cardiaca-Heart Failure) trial

Background-The independent prognostic impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) and prediabetes mellitus (pre-DM) on survival outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure has been investigated in observational registries and randomized, clinical trials, but the results have been often inconclusive or conflicting. We examined the independent prognostic impact of DM and pre-DM on survival outcomes in the GISSI-HF (Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nella Insufficienza Cardiaca-Heart Failure) trial.Methods and Results-We assessed the risk of all-cause death and the composite of all-cause death or cardiovascular hospitalization over a median follow-up period of 3.9 years among the 6935 chronic heart failure participants of the GISSI-HF trial, who were stratified by presence of DM (n= 2852), pre-DM (n= 2013), and non-DM (n= 2070) at baseline. Compared with non-DM patients, those with DM had remarkably higher incidence rates of all-cause death (34.5% versus 24.6%) and the composite end point (63.6% versus 54.7%). Conversely, both event rates were similar between non-DM patients and those with pre-DM. Cox regression analysis showed that DM, but not pre-DM, was associated with an increased risk of all-cause death (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.28-1.60) and of the composite end point (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.13-1.32), independently of established risk factors. In the DM subgroup, higher hemoglobin A1c was also independently associated with increased risk of both study outcomes (all-cause death: adjusted hazard ratio, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.02-1.43; and composite end point: adjusted hazard ratio, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.01-1.29, respectively).Conclusions-Presence of DM was independently associated with poor long-term survival outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure