PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Parrotta, Erica
AU  - Kister, Ilya
AU  - Charvet, Leigh
AU  - Sammarco, Carrie
AU  - Saha, Valerie
AU  - Charlson, Robert Erik
AU  - Howard, Jonathan
AU  - Gutman, Josef Maxwell
AU  - Gottesman, Malcolm
AU  - Abou-Fayssal, Nada
AU  - Wolintz, Robyn
AU  - Keilson, Marshall
AU  - Fernandez-Carbonell, Cristina
AU  - Krupp, Lauren B.
AU  - Zhovtis Ryerson, Lana
TI  - COVID-19 outcomes in MS
AID  - 10.1212/NXI.0000000000000835
DP  - 2020 Sep 01
TA  - Neurology - Neuroimmunology Neuroinflammation
PG  - e835
VI  - 7
IP  - 5
4099  - http://nn.neurology.org/content/7/5/e835.short
4100  - http://nn.neurology.org/content/7/5/e835.full
SO  - Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm2020 Sep 01; 7
AB  - Objective To report outcomes on patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and related disorders with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness.Methods From March 16 to April 30, 2020, patients with MS or related disorders at NYU Langone MS Comprehensive Care Center were identified with laboratory-confirmed or suspected COVID-19. The diagnosis was established using a standardized questionnaire or by review of in-patient hospital records.Results We identified 76 patients (55 with relapsing MS, of which 9 had pediatric onset; 17 with progressive MS; and 4 with related disorders). Thirty-seven underwent PCR testing and were confirmed positive. Of the entire group, 64 (84%) patients were on disease-modifying therapy (DMT) including anti-CD20 therapies (n = 34, 44.7%) and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor modulators (n = 10, 13.5%). The most common COVID-19 symptoms were fever and cough, but 21.1% of patients had neurologic symptom recrudescence preceding or coinciding with the infection. A total of 18 (23.7%) were hospitalized; 8 (10.5%) had COVID-19 critical illness or related death. Features more common among those hospitalized or with critical illness or death were older age, presence of comorbidities, progressive disease, and a nonambulatory status. No DMT class was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization or fatal outcome.Conclusions Most patients with MS with COVID-19 do not require hospitalization despite being on DMTs. Factors associated with critical illness were similar to the general at-risk patient population. DMT use did not emerge as a predictor of poor COVID-19 outcome in this preliminary sample.CAD=coronary artery disease; COVID-19=coronavirus disease 2019; DMT=disease-modifying therapy; ICU=intensive care unit