Effect of dalfamprine on spatiotemporal gait parameters in multiple sclerosis

ObjectiveImprovement of spatiotemporal gait parameters with dalfampridine.MethodRetrospective study of data collected prospectively in patients with multiple sclerosis treated by dalfampridine for gait disorders. Spatiotemporal gait parameters [1] were measured using a locometer at spontaneous and supported velocity after the establishment of dalfambridine and after 14 days of treatment. In addition, a clinical examination and Time 25 Foot Walk Test (T25FW) were executed.ResultsTwo hundred patients with dalfampridine were evaluated between April 2013 and September 2014. Eighty-six patients had exploitable gait analysis (age: 53.3±9.5; median EDSS: 5.5 [max: 6.5; min: 4]). Forty-one (47.6%) were classified as responders (R) to the dalfampridine after improving their T25FWT of over 20% and 45 (52.3%) as non-responders (NR). The dalfampridine improved the spontaneous and supported walking velocity in the 2 groups (P<0.05). The cadence and stride length improved in the 2 groups independently of the velocity (P<0.05). On D14, the NR became asymmetrical (P<0.001) in spontaneous velocity. There was an inverse correlation between spontaneous walking velocity to D0 and the % of improvement T25FWT (r=–0.524; P