Journal
NEUROLOGY
Volume 78, Issue 24, Pages 1986-1991Publisher
LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e318259e1b2
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Funding
- NIH
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society
- Teva Neuroscience
- Biogen Idec
- EMD Serono, Inc.
- Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute
- National Center for Research Resources, a component of the NIH [UL1 RR024140]
- NIH Roadmap for Medical Research
- Partners Multiple Sclerosis Fellowship Award
- Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development
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Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics of encounters with patients misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: A cross-sectional Internet-based physician survey of MS specialists was performed. Results: The response rate for the survey was 50.4%. Of those who responded, the majority (95%) reported having evaluated 1 or more patients who had been diagnosed with MS, but who they strongly felt did not have MS, within the last year. The majority of respondents (>90%) also reported the use of disease-modifying therapy in a proportion of these patients. Most respondents (94%) found clinical encounters with these patients equally or more challenging than giving a new diagnosis of MS. Fourteen percent of respondents reported that they did not always inform such patients of their opinion that they did not have MS. Conclusions: The misdiagnosis of MS is common and has significant consequences for patient care and health care system costs. Caring for a patient with a misdiagnosis of MS is challenging, and at times honest disclosure of a misdiagnosis represents an important ethical concern for neurologists. More data are needed on this patient population to improve diagnostic acumen and the care of these patients. Neurology (R) 2012; 78: 1986-1991
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