Long-term survival of patients with multiple sclerosis in West France.

In France no data have been published about comparing survival in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with the general French population. We estimated survival probabilities in MS patients from a major centre for MS in West France. We also compared MS survival with the general population and assessed prognostic parameters. All patients with MS onset after January 1976 and classified as dead or alive on 1 January 2004 were included. One thousand eight-hundred and seventy-nine patients (sex ratio W: M 2.3; relapsing/progressive onset 77.4%/22.6%) fulfilled these criteria, disease duration ranged from one to 28 years. By 2004, 68 patients died (51 due to MS) and the 15 and 25-year survival probabilities were 96% and 88%. Male gender, progressive course (either primary or secondary), polysymptomatic onset, and increased annual relapse rate during the first two years of MS were related to a worse prognosis. After a mean follow-up duration of 12.7 years since clinical onset, MS increased the number of deaths compared with the general population. However taking into account disability status, we found that less disabled MS patients had a better survival and highly disabled patients a worse survival (eight-fold increase of mortality) compared with the French population.