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Introduction: There are no reports in LATAM related to longitudinal humoral and cellular response to adenovirus based COVID-19 vaccines in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) under different disease modifying therapies (DMTs) and neutralization of the Omicron and Wuhan variants of SARS-COV-2., Methods: IgG anti- SARS-COV-2 spike titer were measured in a cohort of 101 pwMS under fingolimod, dimethyl fumarate, cladribine and antiCD20, as well as 28 healthy controls (HC) were measured 6 weeks after vaccination with 2 nd dose (Sputnik V or AZD1222) and 3 nd dose (homologous or heterologous schedule). Neutralizing capacity was against Omicron (BA.1) and Wuhan (D614G) variants and pseudotyped particles and Cellular response were analyzed., Results: Multivariate regression analysis showed anti-cd20 (β= -,349, 95% CI: -3655.6 - -369.01, p=0.017) and fingolimod (β=-,399, 95% CI: -3363.8 - -250.9, p=0.023) treatments as an independent factor associated with low antibody response (r 2 adjusted=0.157). After the 2nd dose we found a correlation between total and neutralizing titers against D614G (rho=0.6; p<0.001; slope 0.8, 95%CI:0.4-1.3), with no differences between DMTs. Neutralization capacity was lower for BA.1 (slope 0.3, 95%CI:0.1-0.4). After the 3rd dose, neutralization of BA.1 improved (slope: 0.9 95%CI:0.6-1.2), without differences between DMTs. A fraction of pwMS generated anti-Spike CD4+ and CD8+ T cell response. In contrast, pwMS under antiCD20 generated CD8+TNF+IL2+ response without differences with HC, even in the absence of humoral response. The 3rd dose significantly increased the neutralization against the Omicron, as observed in the immunocompetent population., Discussion: Findings regarding humoral and cellular response are consistent with previous reports., Competing Interests: The authors declare that this study received funding from Novartis and donations from Merck Argentina and Synthon Bagó. The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. Author Berenice Anabel Silva, as principal investigator, received a 2-year research grant from the Research Council of the Ministry of Health of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina., (Copyright © 2024 Silva, Miglietta, Casabona, Wenker, Eizaguirre, Alonso, Casas, Lázaro, Man, Portuondo, Lopez Bisso, Zavala, Casales, Imhoff, Steinberg, López, Carnero Contentti, Deri, Sinay, Hryb, Chiganer, Leguizamon, Tkachuk, Bauer, Ferrandina, Giachello, Henestroza, Garcea, Pascuale, Heitrich, Podhajcer, Vinzón, D’Alotto-Moreno, Benatar, Rabinovich, Pitossi and Ferrari.)

Background: To date, there are no data available on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in Latin American patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)., Objective: Characterize safety of COVID-19 vaccines in Latin American (LATAM) patients with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS)., Methods: A cross-sectional study between February 1, 2021, and April 30, 2021. Individuals with MS from LATAM countries were invited to participate in a self-administered web-based survey, through MS patient organizations from the region., Results: 393 vaccinated pwMS from 10 different Latin American countries were included. The vaccines administered were: inactivated virus vaccines (IVV) in 38.2% of patients, adenovirus vector vaccines (AdV) in 48.8% and mRNA vaccines 13%. All patients received at least one dose of any of the COVID-19 vaccines and 123 (31.3%) declared receiving a second dose. Mean (SD) age 41.5 (11.8) years, 82.4% female, MS disease duration: 8.4 (8.2) years. No serious adverse events were reported with any of the COVID-19 vaccines after either the first or second dose. A lower frequency of adverse events was found with IVV (22%) in comparison with AdV (46.4%) and mRNA (35.3%) ( p  < 0.01). Five participants reported having an MS relapse after IVV first dose., Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccines applied in LATAM proved safe for MS patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Ricardo Alonso has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on the scientific advisory board, lecturing as well as professional/travel accommodation stipends among other activities from Biogen Idec, Genzyme, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Teva and Roche. Anibal Chertcoff has received speaking honoraria and travel stipends from Merck-Serono and Roche. María Bárbara Eizaguirre has received personal compensation for consulting, lecturing as well as stipends for national and international conferences among other activities from Biogen Idec, Genzyme, Novartis and Roche. Berenice Anabel Silva has received economic retribution for the development of educational, scientific activities and travel grants to Congresses from Biogen, Novartis, Merck, Genzyme, Teva, Bayer, Tuteur and Roche. Felisa Leguizamón has received economic retribution for the development of educational activities as well as travel stipends from Bayer, Biogen Idec, Biosidus, Genzyme, Novartis, Merck, Raffo, Tuteur, and Teva. Rest of the authors report no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s), 2021.)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in uncertain access to medical treatment for people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) all over the world. However, there is no data regarding its impact on access to health care of pwMS from Latin America., Objectives: We investigated and described changes in health care delivery for pwMS from Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: PwMS from 18 patient organizations of the region completed a web-based survey hosted from May to October 2020., Results: A total of 602 pwMS completed the questionnaire. Changes in disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) use: 6.7% of pwMS on continuous DMTs claimed to stopped them; 14.1% of those on infusion therapies declared to postpone their dosing; 68.8% declared delaying the initiation of a DMT. Disruptions in accessing rehabilitation services were reported by 65.7%. Changes in laboratory and MRI monitoring were reported by 30% and 33%, respectively. In a multivariable-adjusted logistic regression model, changes in laboratory monitoring were significantly associated with increased odds of postponing MRI monitoring (OR 4.09 CI95% 2.79-6.00, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted all aspects of the routine care for pwMS from Latin America. Consequences are yet to be determined., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: There is scarce information in Latin America regarding the prevalence of anxiety in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and its association with different clinical-demographic factors., Objective: We aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety in Argentinian MS patients and to analyze associated factors., Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed with consecutive MS outpatients from two centers in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Anxiety was evaluated according to the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A)., Results: Eighty-three patients were included. Fifty-three (63%) were females, mean age: 46 (SD=13.9) years. Forty-five percent (n = 38) had anxiety according to the HADS-A. Patients with anxiety were significantly younger (42.2 vs 49.1 years, p = 0.02), had a shorter time since diagnosis (8.3 vs 12.3 years, p = 0.02), had a history of psychiatric disorders (36.8% vs 8.8%, p = 0.002), were depressed (57.8% vs 2.2%, p<0.001) and had worse health-related quality of life according to the COOP/Wonca questionnaire (mean score: 21.5 vs 15.2, p<0.001). Depression (OR: 15.2, 95% CI 1.4-157.3, p = 0.02) and worse health-related quality of life (OR: 1.2,95% CI 1-1.4, p = 0.008) remained significantly associated with anxiety after adjusting for all other significant variables. No differences were observed regarding sex, marital and occupational status, education, family history of psychiatric disorders, disease course and disability according to the EDSS., Conclusions: The prevalence of anxiety in Argentinian MS outpatients was higher than previously reported in other populations. Anxiety was strongly associated with negative outcomes such as depression and reduced health-related quality of life. These results emphasize the burden of psychiatric morbidity in Argentinian MS patients., Competing Interests: Decalartion of Competing Interests The study authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To demonstrate the efficacy and feasibility of preoperative chemoradiotherapy in a consecutive series of 100 locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC) patients., Methods: Between October 1997 and December 2004, 100 LACC patients were consecutively staged and treated at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome. Radiotherapy was administered to the whole pelvic region (1.8 Gy/day, totaling 39.6 Gy) in combination with cisplatin (20 mg/m(2)) and 5-FU (1000 mg/m(2)) (both on days 1-4 and 27-30). Radical surgery was performed 5-6 weeks after the end of the treatment., Results: A clinical complete or partial response was observed in 96 patients (56 and 40, respectively). Radical surgery was performed in 95 patients and an overall complication rate of 12.6% was observed in the early postoperative time. At pathological examination, 43 of 95 patients (45.2%) undergoing radical surgery showed complete response to treatment, 28 patients (29.5%) only had a microscopic disease, 18 patients (19%) had a partial response and 6 (6.3%) had no change of disease. With a median follow-up time of 25 months, the 5-year disease-free survival was 76% and the 5-year overall survival was 78%., Conclusions: These data confirm the possibility of achieving encouraging rates of local control and OS in LACC patients submitted to chemoradiation plus surgery, with a low rate of toxicity and complications.