Quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis after high-dose immunosuppressive therapy with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Introduction. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). High-dose immunosuppressive therapy with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HDIT–AHSCT) is the most eff ective method of treating MS, which has a positive eff ect on the quality of life of patients and inhibition of the progression of disability.

The aim of the study was to analyze the dynamics of quality of life in patients with MS who underwent the HDIT– AHSCT method in groups with diff erent clinical effi  cacy of this method.

Material and methods. The single-center observational study included patients with MS (n = 21, mean age 35.5 ± 6.2 (28–50) years; men/women — 11/10; remitting MS (RMS) n = 16, secondary-progressive (SPMS) n = 4, primaryprogressive (PPMS) n = 1), after HDIT–AHSCT (cyclophosphamide-rituximab conditioning regimen). Assessment of the quality of life (SF-36, FAMS, CSP-MS42, HADS) and the degree of disability in all patients was carried out before and 12 months after HDIT–AHSCT.

Results. 12 months after HDIT–AHSCT, more than 50% of patients showed signifi cant improvement in quality of life according to the scales of viability and social functioning of the SF-36 questionnaire, as well as according to the scales of general well-being and additional problems of the FAMS questionnaire. 57% of patients had a signifi cant improvement in the overall FAMS score. According to the CSP-MS42 questionnaire, a decrease in weakness (p < 0.05), feelings of constant fatigue and rapid fatigue during exercise was revealed. After transplantation, there was a slight decrease in anxiety (p = 0.91) and a signifi cant decrease in depression (p = 0.011).

Conclusion. The expected dynamics was established: in patients with clinical improvement, there was an improvement in the quality of life for most indicators; in patients with stabilization, most quality of life indicators were similar before and after HDIT–AHSCT; with clinical deterioration after HDIT–AHSCT, quality of life parameters worsened. These data indicate the expediency of further optimization of patient selection criteria and various stages of the HDIT–AHSCT in order to obtain optimal clinical results and, accordingly, improve the quality of life of patients.

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