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Fingolimod as first-line treatment in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis: a case report

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Abstract

Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) has a highly active and aggressive course, which can have a devastating effect on the physical and cognitive functioning of a child if not treated appropriately with effective disease-modifying drugs. The optimal treatment strategy of pediatric MS is currently unknown and debate continues as to whether treatment escalation or initiation of a highly active therapy provides a better outcome. Here, we present the case of a 16-year-old female diagnosed with highly active relapsing-remitting MS (age at onset: 14 years) who received first-line treatment with fingolimod within 1 year of the first recorded symptom. Since starting fingolimod, the course of the disease has essentially been stable. No new or active lesions were observed in magnetic resonance imaging scans performed at 3 and 12 months after starting fingolimod, and treatment was well tolerated. These data suggest that, in this case, early treatment with first-line fingolimod was able to slow disease progression.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Melanie Gatt, an independent medical writer on behalf of Springer Healthcare Communications, for providing medical writing assistance and styling the manuscript before submission.

Funding

Support for medical writing and manuscript preparation was funded by Novartis Farma.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and Regional Referral Multiple Sclerosis Centre, University-Hospital San Luigi, Orbassano, Italy

    Marco Capobianco, Antonio Bertolotto & Simona Malucchi

Authors
  1. Marco Capobianco
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  2. Antonio Bertolotto
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  3. Simona Malucchi
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Contributions

Dr. Capobianco enrolled the patient and performed the whole clinical examination and recorded clinical and instrumental data. He also discussed the results and contributed to the writing of the manuscript for submission. Dr. Antonio Bertolotto revised and approved the manuscript. Dr. Simona Malucchi revised and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Capobianco.

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Conflict of interest

Marco Capobianco has received speaking honoraria and personal fees for contributing as an advisory board member from Almirall, Biogen, Merck-Serono, Mylan, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, and TEVA. Antonio Bertolotto has received speaking honoraria and personal fees for contributing as an advisory board member from Almirall, Biogen, Merck-Serono, Mylan, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, and TEVA. He also received research grant from Biogen, Novartis, Merck-Serono, Roche, and Sanofi-Genzyme. Simona Malucchi has received speaking honoraria and personal fees for contributing as an advisory board member from Almirall, Biogen, Merck-Serono, Mylan, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, and TEVA. She also received research grant from Sanofi-Genzyme.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the local ethics committee of the University Hospital San Luigi in Orbassano.

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Informed consent to participate was obtained from legal guardians.

Consent for publication

Informed consent to publish was obtained from legal guardians.

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Capobianco, M., Bertolotto, A. & Malucchi, S. Fingolimod as first-line treatment in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis: a case report. Neurol Sci 42 (Suppl 1), 25–28 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-05027-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-020-05027-8

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