Ocrelizumab treatment in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in a cuban tertiary care center: from temporal analysis to global effect
Abstract
Introduction: Ocrelizumab has been used in patients with multiple sclerosis as a disease-modifying therapy. Studies have shown that it is beneficial in slowing relapses. Its use was introduced in Cuba, but no research had been conducted to determine the response to this therapy in our setting.
Objective: to determine the impact of treatment with Ocrelizumab on relevant variables corresponding to patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis treated in a Cuban tertiary care center over four years, using a mixed approach of related measures and combined effect analysis.
Methods: observational, descriptive, prospective study in patients of both sexes, 15 treated with ocrelizumab for one or more years, from march 2019 to march 2024 and a comparative group of 15 patients treated with rebif. The study variables were: disability measured with the EDSS scale, clinical and radiological relapses, annual hospital admission and NEDA.
Results: Ocrelizumab significantly decreased radiological and clinical progression of the disease, as well as the number of hospital admissions, with a difference of no evidence of disease activity before and after ocrelizumab of 86.67% in the first year, 75.00% in the second year and 77.78% in the third year (p: 0.0002, P:0.0039 and p: 0.0156, respectively). In the forest plot analysis there is an effect in favor of Ovrelizumab in: reduction in the number of admissions, number of clinical flares, number of lesions in MRI and in no evidence of disease activity compared to Rebif.
Conclusions: Treatment with ocrelizumab showed a favorable impact in: reduction in the number of admissions, number of clinical flares, radiological lesions in magnetic resonance imaging and no evidence of disease activity over the four years evaluated and in comparison, with the use of Rebif in patients with multiple sclerosis treated in a Cuban tertiary care center.
