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Original Research

Med Arch. 2013; 67(3): 178-180


Betaferon® Efficiency Indicators in the Treatment of Relapsing Remitting Form of Multiple Sclerosis

Enra Suljic, Osman Sinanovic, Azra Kurtovic-Alajbegovic, Inge Klupka-Saric.




Abstract

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common, chronic debilitating disease in young adults characterized by a wide variety of neurological symptoms and unpredictable increasing disability. Worldwide, MS affects about 2.5 million people, with a female-to-male ratio of approximately 2:1. The therapies used in the chronic treatment of MS are immune-modulating agents. Interferon beta -1b has been shown to decrease the rate of relapses, the burden of lesions seen on MRI, and the rate of accumulated disability. Aim: Determine the efficacy of Betaferon ® in patients with RR form of MS in terms of the degree of disability and the number of relapses during the two years of continuous treatment. Subjects and methods: The study, partly retrospective, partly prospective, included 58 patients of both sexes with MS, RR type, from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who received Betaferon® treatment, from the Solidarity Fund, during 2 years period. Evaluation of efficacy was based on the degree of disability measured by EDDS scale and number of relapses. Results: In our sample, women were represented in the ratio of 3:1 compared to men. 44.8% of patients were referred from Clinical Centre University in Sarajevo (UCCS), 34.5% from University Clinical Centre Tuzla (UCCT) and 20.7% from Clinical Hospital Center Mostar (CHCM). The smallest number of patients have had a relapse sent from CCUS (0.04, SD = 0.196), which was in direct correlation with input EDSS score at baseline (≈ 1.3) compared to patients from the UCCT, who had an average of 1.05 relapses, SD = 1.35, and the input EDSS score is 2.15. Patients referred from CHCM had an average of 0.08 relapses, SD = 0.93, while the input EDSS score was around 1. In terms of the degree of disability, measured by EDSS, we get a minimal increase in the patients from UCCS and UCCT, while patients from CHCM had a reduction of EDDS for the 0.45 (p

Key words: Betaferon, Multiple Sclerosis, Treatment






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