Are Multiple Sclerosis and Head Injury Related?

To examine whether head trauma can lead to multiple sclerosis (MS), the authors analyzed brief statistical abstracts of linked hospital and death records from 110,993 patients with head injuries and 534,600 reference patients admitted for various other reasons. For each cohort, the authors recorded those who had been admitted to the hospital or had died with a diagnosis of MS, with clinical onset after the head injury.

The age-, sex-, year-, and region-adjusted rates of MS did not differ significantly between the two cohorts. The authors conclude that head trauma does not contribute to the etiology or precipitation of MS.