Search

Background: Previous studies have shown that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) had frequent healthcare visits up to 10 years before being diagnosed but with no information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the connection with the radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS)., Objective: To analyze healthcare use 3 years before the RIS diagnosis., Methods: We examined healthcare usage before the first scan in RIS cases from 2010 to 2019. RIS subjects were identified from the French National MS observatory and compared to the general population (matched 10:1) and MS patients (matched 4:1)., Results: Among 482 RIS individuals, 223 (46.3%) were not linked to the healthcare resources database. The remaining RIS individuals (53.7%) had higher healthcare usage before their RIS diagnosis for issues related to neurology visits, headaches (odds ratio (OR): 3.34, confidence interval (CI): [2.00-5.57], p < 0.0001), and the use of anti-migraine drugs (OR: 2.61, CI: [1.37-4.99], p = 0.004) compared to MS., Conclusion: Only about half of RIS patients had MS-selected healthcare resources, which allowed for data linkage. Those who did seek care before their RIS diagnosis were most commonly known for other neurological comorbidities. These findings do not support the idea of a systemic prodrome before RIS diagnosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: C.L.-F. reports research funding from the ARSEP Foundation for this project. D.T.O. received personal compensation for consulting and advisory services from Biogen, Eisai, EMD Serono, Genentech, Genzyme/Sanofi, Moderna, RVL Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Zenas BioPharma, and research support from EMD Serono/Merck and Novartis. D.T.O. has issued national and international patents and pending patents related to other developed technologies. D.T.O. received royalties for intellectual property licensed by The Board of Regents of The University of Texas System and is also the Founder of Revert Health Inc. M.C. has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Biogen, Merck, Sanofi, Roche, Celgene-BMS, Janssen, Alexion, Horizon Therapeutics, and Ad Scientiam. A.S. received research grants from The Turkish Multiple Sclerosis Society, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkiye & Istanbul University-Cerraphasa Research Support Funds, received honoraria or consultancy fees for participating in advisory boards, giving educational lectures, and travel and registration coverage for attending scientific congresses or symposia from F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Sanofi-Genzyme, Alexion, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Biogen Idec/Gen Pharma of Turkey and Abdi Ibrahim Ilaç, Turkiye. C.J.A. receives research funding from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the National Institutes of Health. She has received personal compensation for advisory boards and consulting activities from Horizon Therapeutics, Genentech, Sanofi Genzyme, TG Therapeutics, and EMD Serono. E.L. reports consulting and lecture fees or travel grants from Biogen, Genzyme, MedDay Pharmaceuticals, Merck Serono, Novartis, and Roche—nothing related to the contents of the present work. S.K., C.L.-C., E.D., C.P., E.N., and O.H.K declare no potential conflicts of interest.