Because the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) may span decades, the need often arises to make changes to the treatment plan in order to accommodate changing circumstances. Switching drugs, or the discontinuation of immunomodulatory agents altogether, may leave patients vulnerable to relapse or disease progression. In some cases, severe MS disease activity is noted clinically and on MRI after treatment withdrawal. When this disease activity is disproportionate to the pattern observed prior to treatment initiation, patients are said to have experienced rebound. Of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved agents to treat MS, the drugs most commonly implicated in rebound are natalizumab and fingolimod. In this review based on the reported cases and data from clinical trials, we characterize disease rebound after fingolimod cessation. We also outline fingolimod rebound management considerations, summarizing what evidence is available to help clinicians mitigate the risk of rebound, switch therapies, and treat rebound events when they occur. The commonly encountered situation of fingolimod discontinuation prior to pregnancy is also discussed.
The majority of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have symptoms of spasticity that increasingly impair function as the disease progresses. With appropriate treatment, however, quality of life can be improved. Oral antispasticity medications are useful in managing mild spasticity but are frequently ineffective in controlling moderate to severe spasticity, because patients often cannot tolerate the adverse effects of increasing doses. Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy can be an effective alternative to oral medications in patients who have a suboptimal response to oral medications or who cannot tolerate dose escalation or multidrug oral regimens. ITB therapy may be underutilized in the MS population because clinicians (a) are more focused on disease-modifying therapies rather than symptom control, (b) underestimate the impact of spasticity on quality of life, and (c) have concerns about the cost and safety of ITB therapy. Delivery of ITB therapy requires expertly trained staff and proper facilities for pump management. This article summarizes the findings and recommendations of an expert panel on the use of ITB therapy in the MS population and the role of the physician and comprehensive care team in patient selection, screening, and management.
IntroductionDelayed-release dimethyl fumarate (DMF, also known as gastro-resistant DMF) is indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis. Gastrointestinal (GI) adverse events (AEs) occur with DMF therapy.MethodsWe used a Delphi process to reach consensus among North American clinicians on effective real-world management strategies for GI AEs associated with DMF. Clinicians were asked to complete two rounds of questionnaires developed by a steering committee; consensus in round 2 was attained if ≥70% of respondents agreed on a particular strategy.ResultsConsensus was reached on several strategies to manage GI AEs, including administering DMF with food, slow titration, dose reduction, and use of symptomatic therapies.ConclusionThese consensus strategies provide clinicians with information on real-world approaches used to address the tolerability of DMF in patients with multiple sclerosis.FundingBiogen.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40120-015-0037-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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