Determinants of long‐term disability in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy: A multicenter Korea/UK study of 144 patients

Young Gi Min, Jaehyun Jeon, Sung-Min Kim, Yoon-Ho Hong, Christina Englezou, Jung-Joon Sung, Yusuf A. Rajabally*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background
Despite standard-of-care treatment, therapeutic outcomes in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) are often incomplete. We aimed to evaluate the impact of clinical and therapeutic factors on long-term disability in CIDP, from cohorts from Korea and the UK.

Methods
We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study of 144 patients with CIDP. Baseline characteristics and treatment data were collected, and disability was assessed using the Overall Neuropathy Limitation Scale (ONLS) for the UK cohort, Inflammatory Neuropathy Cause and Treatment (INCAT) scores for the Korean cohort, and Inflammatory Rasch-built Overall Disability Scale (I-RODS) for the combined cohort. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to identify independent prognostic factors. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to important clinical features to gain further insights into which patients are most likely to benefit from early treatment.

Results
Treatment initiation within 1 year of onset was significantly associated with lesser post-treatment disability and greater amplitude of treatment response, in each cohort separately, and in the combined cohort. This association remained significant after adjusting for covariates in multivariate regression. Subgroup analyses demonstrated early treatment benefits in older patients (≥60 years), those with typical CIDP, and those with a chronic mode of onset. The type of first-line therapy and baseline disability levels did not influence outcomes. Other identified independent prognostic factors included comorbidity and pre-treatment disability level.

Discussion
Early treatment initiation is a key modifiable determinant of favorable long-term disability in CIDP. These findings underscore the importance of timely diagnosis and prompt treatment to prevent irreversible axonal damage.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere16575
Number of pages8
JournalEuropean Journal of Neurology
Volume32
Issue number1
Early online date9 Dec 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Data Access Statement

The data sets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Determinants of long‐term disability in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy: A multicenter Korea/UK study of 144 patients'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this