Application of the 2010 McDonald criteria for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in a Spanish cohort of patients with clinically isolated syndromes

Background: Recently the International Panel on Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has proposed new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria for the diagnosis of MS in patients with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS). We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of these new criteria for lesions dissemination in space (DIS) and time (DIT), from a single MRI scan, to predict conversion from CIS to clinically definite MS. Methods: We studied 67 CIS patients with baseline MRI performed within the first 3 months after onset. The follow-up was of at least 24 months. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of Barkhof-Tintore criteria and the new proposed MRI criteria for DIS and DIT were calculated with SPSS v. 15.0. Results: The mean age for clinical onset was 30 years and 64% of patients were female. The overall conversion rate was 74%. In our cohort, Barkhof-Tintore criteria showed a sensitivity of 71.43%, a specificity of 66.67%, with an accuracy of 73.1%. New DIS criteria showed a sensitivity of 85.71%, a specificity of 64.71% and an accuracy of 80.30%. We also evaluated the new DIT criteria with a single MRI scan in 54 patients with baseline scans that included gadolinium-denhanced images. The sensitivity of the test was 52.63% with a specificity of 75.00% and an accuracy of 59.26%. Conclusion: New DIS criteria are simpler and more sensitive than previous criteria. The sensitivity of DIT criterion using a single MRI scan was rather low, as other previous studies showed, reflecting its stringency, but it could improve the accuracy of early MS diagnosis in that group of patients with typical CIS and gadolinium-enhancing and non-enhancing lesions on their baseline scans. These results reinforce their use in MS diagnosis.