The association between age and inflammatory disease activity on MRI in relapse-onset multiple sclerosis during long-term follow-up

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS) decreases with advancing age. Previous work found a decrease in contrast enhancing lesions (CELs) with age. Here we describe the relation of age and MRI measures of inflammatory disease activity during long-term follow-up in a large real-world cohort of people with relapse-onset MS. METHODS: We investigated MRI data from the long-term observational Amsterdam MS cohort. We used logistic regression models and negative binomial generalized estimating equations to investigate the associations between age and radiological disease activity after a first clinical event. RESULTS: We included 1,063 participants, and 10,651 cranial MRIs. Median follow-up time was 6.1 years (IQR 2.4-10.9 years). Older participants had a significantly lower risk of CELs on baseline MRI (40-50 years vs. 50 years vs. 50 years vs. 50 years, a less aggressive treatment strategy might be appropriate compared to younger patients