Abstract
Long-term treatment of multiple sclerosis with natalizumab (NTZ) carries the risk of a devastating complication in the form of an encephalopathy caused by a reactivation of a latent John Cunningham virus infection (progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy, PML). Early diagnosis is associated with considerably better prognosis. Quantitative EEG as an objective, rater-independent technique provides high sensitivity (88%) and specificity (82%) for the diagnosis of NTZ-PML. Combination of diagnostic modalities addressing static morphological (brain MRI) as well as functional (EEG) pathologic changes may improve risk management programmes.
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Notes
The calculation of the Fourier transform was initially performed with an internally developed software written in C++ using the function “Real One-dimensional Transform” of the C-library “FFTW” (Frigo and Johnson 1997). The current version is programmed in Java for cross-platform use. A copy is available on request.
Amplitude spectrum was calculated with Welch’s spectral estimation using the Matlab function “pwelch.m” between 0.5 and 30 Hz with a resolution of 0.1 Hz (Matlab, MathWorks Inc. Natick, Massachusetts, USA).
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Acknowledgements
We like to thank F. Zubler, A. Salmen, S. Dahlhaus, R. Schneider, I. Kleiter and R. Schneider-Gold for their valuable contributions to this work.
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Classen, G., Classen, C., Bernasconi, C. et al. Quantitative electroencephalography supports diagnosis of natalizumab-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. J. Neurovirol. 25, 133–136 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-018-0689-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-018-0689-2