Can databasing optimise patient care?

Long-term, prospective databasing of multiple sclerosis (MS) information provides a useful resource for natural history studies. Furthermore, it is the only way to address the question of whether early treatment eliminates or delays the inevitable and irreversible clinical worsening that is the hallmark of the late phase of the illness. Due to the variable nature of MS, it is useful to monitor large numbers of individuals over time. The limitations of single databases may be overcome by regional, national or international pooling of data. In this paper, the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Database Network (MSDN) and the international web-based MSBase registry are described.