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Differing definitions of benign multiple sclerosis (MS) have been based on various cutoff values of Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score (2, 3, or 4) after variable durations of disease (10–20 years). In this population-based Norwegian study, investigators assessed the impact of different definitions on the frequency of benign MS. Of 230 patients with MS onset between 1976 and 1986, the investigators interviewed the 188 who remained alive in 2003. Only a small minority had received immunomodulatory medications.
After a mean disease duration of 22 years, 41% of the cohort had an EDSS score ≤4, 26% had a score ≤3, and 15% had a score ≤2. None of the patients with an EDSS score ≤3.5 had converted to secondary progressive MS. Rates of d…