Khurram Saleem, Atif Masood, Zahid Hussain Shah.
Modes of presentation of multiple sclerosis in Pakistani population.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;5(1):105-9.

Objective: The objective of this descriptive study was to present and compare different modes of presentation of multiple sclerosis in Pakistani population and to acknowledge the fact that multiple sclerosis is not an unusual moiety in Pakistan and should be brought in differential diagnosis. Material and Methods: This descriptive one time observational study was conducted in medical and neurology wards of Mayo Hospital, Lahore. Patients were selected for interview, based on convenient sampling. The data was collected on a specially designed proforma. Thirty patients were included in this study. All patients were evaluated through clinical examination, blood tests, CSF examination and MRI. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 8. Results: Mean age was 29.43 years. Up to 57% of the patients were female. Only 16% of patients presented for the first time, while the rest had history of previous episodes. Most of the patients had more than one symptom at presentation. Visual disturbance alone or along with other symptoms was the presentation 63% of thepatients. Another 80% of patients presented with weakness. Urinary incontinence occurred in 40% of patients. Cerebellar signs were present in 17% of patients. In 13% of the patients, multiple sclerosis manifested with paraesthesias. Conclusion: Visual disturbance was the most common presentation of multiple sclerosis, either alone or in combination with other symptoms. Most patients presented with relapse after a remissions of 1-2 years.

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