Clinical and Epidemiological Features of Early and Adult Onset Multiple Sclerosis in Hamedan, Iran, 2004- 2005

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common causes of chronic neurological disability in young adults and geographical diversities and differences have been reported in its occurrence. For more concise data about MS in the West of Iran, in this study, the clinical and epidemiological features of MS patients were evaluated at the University Hospital of Hamedan. Data for 155 MS patients attending Hamedan University of Medical Sciences’ MS Clinic between the years of 2004 and 2005 who had fulfilled Poser criteria for clinically definite MS were reviewed. Moreover, early and late MS onsets for clinical and epidemiological differences were compared. The early onset MS was reported in 23(14.83%) subjects who were 18 or less years old of whom 7(30.44%) were male and 16(69.56%) were female. The age mean was 16.22±16.36. 17(73.92%) patients were classified as having relapsing-remitting MS, while 5 patients (21.73%) were classified as having secondary progressive MS and 1 patient (4.35%) was classified as having primary progressive MS. There were no significant differences in clinical and epidemiological features for MS subtypes in the institute. 12.9% of patients had positive family history for the disease and one patient had a benign MS. The clinical and epidemiological features of early and adult onset MS were not significantly different in the study. The present study confirmed that while the clinical and epidemiological features of MS patients in Hamedan university hospital were similar to those in other Iranian institutes in most of the cases, early onset MS was more common.