Contributions
Abstract: EP1548
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: Pathology and pathogenesis of MS - Neuropsychology
Introduction: The profile of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been thoroughly investigated in the end of the last century. The more recently studied “dual” nature of MS - both a neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorder - and the different significance of these two components in the different stages of MS suggest a dynamic profile of cognitive dysfunction in the course of the disease. Such data, however, is lacking or insufficient.
Aim: The aim of our study is to characterise the profile of cognitive dysfunction in a Bulgarian cohort of MS patients as a function of disease duration.
Methods: 100 MS patients underwent detailed neuropsychological assessment with a battery comprising tests for general cognitive functioning, episodic verbal and visuospatial memory, verbal fluency, attention and executive functions and their results were compared to those of 57 healthy controls (HC). The patients were divided into 3 groups depending on their disease duration - group 1: < 1 year (n = 20), group 2: 1-10 years (n = 43), group 3: >10 years (n = 37).
Results: In the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test the results in group 1 differed from HC in free (p< 0.001), total (p< 0.001) and delayed recall (p=0.001). Groups 2 and 3 differed significantly from HC not only in free, total and delayed recall, but also in immediate recall (p< 0.001 for both) and recognition (p=0.001 and p=0.004, respectively). Tests for executive functions (Digit Symbol Modalities Test, Trail-Making Test, etc.) and verbal and semantic fluency all detected significant differences from HC even in patients in group 1. Stroop Colour Word Test revealed a significant difference from HC in its 3rd phase for group 1 (p = 0.019), but also in its 1st and 2nd phase for groups 2 and 3. The general cognitive functioning scale revealed significant differences from HC in groups 2 and 3 (p< 0.001 for both).
Conclusion: The profile of cognitive dysfunction in MS is not static and changes with disease progression - during the first years of disease, when the neuroinflammatory component is the leading cause of damage, patients demonstrate predominantly dysexecutive features, information processing disturbance and deficits in attention, verbal fluency and memory retrieval, while in the more advanced stages of disease, when the neurodegenerative component is the leading cause of damage, this specific cognitive profile is lost and universal deficits in almost all cognitive domains are observed.
Disclosure: Todor Kunchev: Nothing to disclose; Mariya Petrova: Nothing to disclose; Margarita Raycheva: Nothing to disclose; Latchezar Traykov: Nothing to disclose
Abstract: EP1548
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: Pathology and pathogenesis of MS - Neuropsychology
Introduction: The profile of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been thoroughly investigated in the end of the last century. The more recently studied “dual” nature of MS - both a neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorder - and the different significance of these two components in the different stages of MS suggest a dynamic profile of cognitive dysfunction in the course of the disease. Such data, however, is lacking or insufficient.
Aim: The aim of our study is to characterise the profile of cognitive dysfunction in a Bulgarian cohort of MS patients as a function of disease duration.
Methods: 100 MS patients underwent detailed neuropsychological assessment with a battery comprising tests for general cognitive functioning, episodic verbal and visuospatial memory, verbal fluency, attention and executive functions and their results were compared to those of 57 healthy controls (HC). The patients were divided into 3 groups depending on their disease duration - group 1: < 1 year (n = 20), group 2: 1-10 years (n = 43), group 3: >10 years (n = 37).
Results: In the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test the results in group 1 differed from HC in free (p< 0.001), total (p< 0.001) and delayed recall (p=0.001). Groups 2 and 3 differed significantly from HC not only in free, total and delayed recall, but also in immediate recall (p< 0.001 for both) and recognition (p=0.001 and p=0.004, respectively). Tests for executive functions (Digit Symbol Modalities Test, Trail-Making Test, etc.) and verbal and semantic fluency all detected significant differences from HC even in patients in group 1. Stroop Colour Word Test revealed a significant difference from HC in its 3rd phase for group 1 (p = 0.019), but also in its 1st and 2nd phase for groups 2 and 3. The general cognitive functioning scale revealed significant differences from HC in groups 2 and 3 (p< 0.001 for both).
Conclusion: The profile of cognitive dysfunction in MS is not static and changes with disease progression - during the first years of disease, when the neuroinflammatory component is the leading cause of damage, patients demonstrate predominantly dysexecutive features, information processing disturbance and deficits in attention, verbal fluency and memory retrieval, while in the more advanced stages of disease, when the neurodegenerative component is the leading cause of damage, this specific cognitive profile is lost and universal deficits in almost all cognitive domains are observed.
Disclosure: Todor Kunchev: Nothing to disclose; Mariya Petrova: Nothing to disclose; Margarita Raycheva: Nothing to disclose; Latchezar Traykov: Nothing to disclose