Delay in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in Croatia |
| |
| Authors: | Ivan Adamec Barbara Barun Tereza Gabelić Ivana Zadro Mario Habek |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Neurology, Hospital de Faro, Centro Hospitalar do Algarve EPE, Algarve, Portugal;2. Department of Statistics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal;3. Department of Neurology, Royal London Hospital, UK;4. Translational Clinical Physiology Unit, Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal;5. Department of Neurosciences, Hospital de Santa Maria-CHLN, Lisbon, Portugal;6. Barts and the London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, UK;1. School of Clinical Sciences, University of Bristol, St Michael''s Hospital, Bristol, United Kingdom;2. Departments of General Pediatrics, Neonatology and Pediatric Cardiology, University Children''s Hospital, Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany;3. Department of Physiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;4. College of Medicine, Swansea University, United Kingdom |
| |
| Abstract: | BackgroundThe National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for multiple sclerosis (MS) recommend the time from initial presentation to first neurological evaluation to be no longer than 6 weeks, and a further 6 weeks until any necessary investigations are completed. The aim of this study was to evaluate how many patients with MS are diagnosed within the NICE timelines in two settings specific for Croatia.Patients and methodsAll patients with the final diagnosis of clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or MS in a 6 months period were retrospectively reviewed. We calculated time from first symptom to first neurological evaluation, time from first symptom to MRI scan, time from first neurological evaluation to MRI scan, time from first neurological evaluation to lumbar puncture (LP), time from first symptom to diagnosis and time from first neurological evaluation to diagnosis. We also calculated the percentage of patients fulfilling the NICE timelines.ResultsThis study showed that only 61.5% of MS patients in Croatia see neurologist within 6 weeks of first symptoms, and 64.1% are diagnosed within next 6 weeks. However, 80% and 100% of patients presented to the emergency room of our hospital (where a visit to a MS clinic can be automatically made) met the NICE guidelines for time from first symptom to first neurological evaluation and time from first neurological evaluation to diagnosis, respectively.ConclusionA specifically designed demyelinating disease diagnostic clinic offers a better service than other existing models in the diagnosis and management of MS patients. |
| |
| Keywords: | Multiple sclerosis Time to diagnosis MRI Lumbar puncture Delay |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
