Ethics approval and consent to participate
The study was approved by the ethics committee in Düsseldorf (registry number 4423).
Consent for publication
Due to the retrospective manner of this study, patient consent was waived by the ethics committee.
Availability of data and materials
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Competing interest
Jonas Graf* - received travel/meeting/accommodation reimbursements from Biogen, Merck Serono, and Sanofi-Genzyme.
Christian Hartmann* - declares no relevant competing interests.
Helmar C Lehmann - declares no relevant competing interests.
Klemens Ruprecht - received research support from Novartis, Merck Serono and German Ministry of Education and Research as well as speaking fees and travel grants from Bayer Healthcare, Biogen Idec, Merck Serono, sanofi-aventis/Genzyme, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Novartis, and Guthy Jackson Charitable Foundation.
Michael Karenfort -– received, with approval of the Rector of Heinrich-Heine University and the CEO of University of Düsseldorf Hospital honoraria for consulting, serving on steering committees and speaking from Novartis.
Christian Schneider - declares no relevant competing interests.
Ortwin Adams - declares no relevant competing interests.
Carolin Otto - declares no relevant competing interests.
Hans Martin Bosse - declares no relevant competing interests.
Sabine Diedrich - declares no relevant competing interests.
Sindy Böttcher - declares no relevant competing interests.
Alfons Schnitzler -– reports consulting and lecture fees from Abbott/SJM, Boston Scientific, Teva Neuroscience, UCB, MEDA Pharma, Novartis and Abbvie as well as research grants from the German Research Council, BMBF, the German Ministery of Education and Health, and the Helmholtz Association.
Hans-Peter Hartung (outside this work) - received, with approval of the Rector of Heinrich-Heine University and the CEO of University of Düsseldorf Hospital honoraria for consulting, serving on steering committees and speaking from Biogen, CSL Behring, Geneuro, Genzyme, LFB, Medimmune, Merck Serono, Novartis, Octapharma, Opexa, Receptos/Celgene, Roche, Sanofi, and Teva.
Orhan Aktas* - received, with approval of the Rector of Heinrich-Heine University, grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the German Competence Network Multiple Sclerosis (KKNMS; for NEMOS NationNMO-PAT FKZ 01GI1602B), the Eugène Devic European Network (EU-FP7), honoraria and travel/accommodation/meeting expenses from Almirall, Bayer, Biogen, Medimmune, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Teva.
Philipp Albrecht* - reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Allergan, Biogen, Ipsen, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and Roche, personal fees and non-financial support from Bayer Healthcare, Merck Serono, and Sanofi-Aventis/Genzyme, outside the submitted work.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Authors’ Contributions:
Jonas Graf* - study concept/design, acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, drafting of the manuscript
Christian Hartmann* - study concept/design, acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, drafting of the manuscript
Helmar C Lehmann - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
Klemens Ruprecht - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
Michael Karenfort - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
Christian Schneider- acquisition/ analysis of data
Ortwin Adams - critical revision of the manuscript
Carolin Otto - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
Hans Martin Bosse - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
Sabine Diedrich - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
Sindy Böttcher - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
Alfons Schnitzler - critical revision of the manuscript
Hans-Peter Hartung - critical revision of the manuscript
Orhan Aktas* - analysis/interpretation of data, and revision of the manuscript
Philipp Albrecht* - Study concept/design, acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, drafting and revision of the manuscript