Predictors of short-term disease activity following a first clinical demyelinating event: analysis of the CHAMPS placebo group

We evaluated 190 patients in the placebo group of the CHAMPS trial in order to assess factors associated with short-term clinical and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes in patients with a first clinical demyelinating event involving the optic nerve, spinal cord, or brainstem/cerebellum, and subclinical demyelination on brain MRI. The two study outcomes were 1) development of clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS) and 2) development of CDMS or two or more new or enlarging brain MRI T2 lesions. The presence of gadolinium (Gd)- enhancing lesions on the baseline scan was the only MRI characteristic associated with a higher risk of both the clinical and combined outcomes (p=0.003 and