Original Paper Received: December 19, 2014 Accepted: February 22, 2015 Published online: March 21, 2015

Eur Neurol 2015;73:233–237 DOI: 10.1159/000381212

Association between Anemia and Multiple Sclerosis Tatiana Koudriavtseva a Rosaria Renna a Domenico Plantone a Chiara Mandoj b Maria Cristina Piattella a Diana Giannarelli c  

 

 

 

 

Multiple Sclerosis Center, Unit of Neurology, b Clinical Pathology, and c Scientific Direction, Regina Elena National Cancer Institute, IFO, Rome, Italy  

 

Key Words Multiple sclerosis · Anemia · Prevalence

Abstract Background/Aims: The relationship between multiple sclerosis (MS) and anemia has not been clarified sufficiently. In this retrospective, cross-sectional, case-control study we evaluated in MS patients: (1) prevalence of anemia relative to sex- and age-matched controls; (2) relationships between patients’ demographic, clinical and drug-related characteristics and anemia; (3) effect of anemia on the risk of developing MS. Methods: 187 consecutive MS patients (51 males, mean age (±SD) 44.5 ± 10.7 years) and 200 controls (56 males, mean age 45.5 ± 12 years) were included in the study. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin