Bone health in patients with multiple sclerosis relapses

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the bone health and vitamin D levels of a cohort of patients with relapses of multiple sclerosis (MS) and to propose an algorithm for the management of bone health in this patient group. METHODS: We prospectively studied 56 consecutive patients from our acute relapse clinic. 3 patients were excluded from analysis as they were not deemed to have experienced an acute MS relapse. Bone health was assessed with vitamin D levels and Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) scanning (10 patients failed to attend for DEXA). Statistical analyses were used to compare groups and identify predictive variables. A review of the literature led to a proposed management protocol. RESULTS: Pre-relapse the baseline EDSS was ≤6.5 in all subjects, and