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In the autumn of 1949 we ( 1 ) reported the results of ACTH treatment in two cases of multiple sclerosis in which the symptoms had not been of long standing. Both cases showed a distinct improvement in a way which we considered to give good grounds for attributing the improvement to the ACTH treatment and not to a spontaneous remission. In favour of this assumption was the fact that the improvement occurred 24 to 48 hours after treatment was begun. The most striking and rapid improvement occurred in the symptoms which appeared last.At the Scandinavian Congress of Neurologists held in Copenhagen in August 1950 we were able to present the results in 11 cases treated with ACTH and cortisone, likewise with, in our opinion, encouraging results in the subjects with symptoms of short duration. In Denmark, experiences with this form of therapy in a limited number of cases were less satisfactory. The treatment had been given to patients with symptoms of long standing. In similar cases we had also heen unsuccessful.Later, encouraging results were reported, chiefly from the U.S.A. (Glaser, Merritt and Traeger (1951) in 11 subjects, and Glaser and Merritt (1952) in 33 subjects ( 2 ) and hy Fog (3) in 20 patients).When later ACTH and cortisone could be obtained in desired quantities we used this method of treatment in an increasing number of cases. We have, of course, in the first place treated patients with symptoms of short duration, which explains why the prospects of improvement are in our material more favourable than in an unselected material.

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