Research progress on risk factors for radiologically isolated syndrome conversion and its clinical management / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS) is considered as an imaging marker of the prodromal stage of multiple sclerosis (MS), and approximately one-third of patients might convert to clinically isolated syndrome or clinically definite multiple sclerosis within 5 years after diagnosis. Although it still remains inconclusive whether or not disease-modifying therapies for RIS need to be initiated, effective identification of prognostic factors for conversion would be of great benefit for early screening of high-risk patients and subsequent clinical precision management. Combined with the latest research progress at home and abroad, this review summarizes the prognostic factors for conversion of RIS to MS from the aspects of demographic characteristics, clinical presentations, imaging manifestations, cerebrospinal fluid and ophthalmological examinations. Given that disease-modifying therapies for RIS are still in clinical research stage and there are no definite recommendations to date, this article expounds the research progress on clinical monitoring, therapeutics and prevention of disease progression, which aims to provide neurologists with reference suggestions on clinical management of RIS.