Elevated plasma fibrinogen levels in multiple sclerosis patients during relapse

A total of 58 patients were included, 45 (77%) CIS patients, 12 (21%) relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS) and 1 (2%) active progressive MS (P-MS). 17 patients had high plasma fibrinogen levels (> 417 mg/dl). Among total of patients with elevated plasma fibrinogen, 15 (88%) had active lesions on MRI and only 2 (12%) did not have active lesion on MRI (p = 0,013) with a specificity of 95%. All patients with fibrinogen > 417 mg/dl were CIS (p = < 0.05). Discussion: We observed that high plasma fibrinogen levels had a high specificity high specificity, but low sensitivity (only 40%) for detection of active lesions on MRI during relapses of MS. These findings support the hypothesis that fibrinogen could play an important role on the development of MS lesions, however, additional studies are needed to confirm these results.