SURVIVAL OF PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS IN DENMARK - A NATIONWIDE, LONG-TERM EPIDEMIOLOGIC SURVEY

We estimated survival probability and excess death rates for patients with MS on the basis of data from the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Regist ry, which includes virtually all patients diagnosed with MS in Denmark (population, five million) since 1948. We reviewed and reclassified a ll case records according to standardized diagnostic criteria. By link age to the Danish Central Population Registry, we lost to follow-up on ly 25 patients who had emigrated. The median survival time from onset of the disease was 28 years in men (compared with 40 years in the matc hed general male population) and 33 years in women (versus 46 years). The median survival time from diagnosis was 22 years in men (versus 37 years) and 28 years in women (versus 42 years). The excess death rate between onset and follow-up (observed deaths per 1,000 person-years m inus the expected number of deaths in a matched general population) wa s 14.3 in men, which was significantly higher than in women (12.0). Ex cess mortality increased with age at onset of MS in people of each sex . The 10-year excess death rate has decreased significantly in recent decades. Excess mortality was highest in cases with cerebellar symptom s at onset.