Multiple Sclerosis Clinic

Overview

The Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Mass General is committed to improving the lives of people with Multiple Sclerosis and related disorders. Our program offers comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services for patients, in addition to innovative clinical research. We focus on managing patients’ symptoms and optimizing quality of life in addition to disease modifying therapy for MS. Utilizing a team approach to care, we emphasize education and support for our patients and their families.

What to Expect

If you are interested in a clinical consultation with us, we strongly recommend that you first receive a referral from your primary care physician or neurologist. A referral letter outlining your issues allows us to make your first visit as productive as possible. Once we have taken these steps, we typically partner with your primary care physician or neurologist to manage your continuing care. If you should encounter any setbacks, we work with the referring physician to make necessary adjustments in your treatment.

Please bring a digital copy on a CD of brain MRI images you have had completed in the past.

At your appointment, one of our neurologists will review your medical and family history. He or she also will complete a thorough neurologic and physical examination. When the evaluation is complete, you and the physician will discuss recommendations, and agree on a suitable treatment regimen based on your current symptoms. We customize each patient's treatment plan, and make adjustments over time as necessary, to optimize symptom management.

Multidisciplinary Teamwork

The Multiple Sclerosis Clinic takes a team approach to patient care. Our neurologists regularly collaborate in diagnosing, evaluating and treating patients with MS. If we suspect a patient has a different neurologic disease, we can refer him or her to a subspecialist elsewhere within the Department of Neurology for further assessment.

In order to address all aspects of the patient's well-being, we collaborate with experts across Mass General and Massachusetts Eye and Ear to address our patients' many needs. We may call on colleagues throughout Mass General Brigham including physical and occupational therapists, neuro-ophthalmologists, urologists, social workers, and psychologists. We also work very closely with our infusion team, who helps us to facilitate IV medication administration and symptom management. Our clinic strives to develop long-term treatments that allow the patients to best manage this disease, and lead independent, active lives.

Treatment & Research

Although our clinic's primary mission is to treat patients, we also lead pioneering research efforts into Multiple Sclerosis, including at the Multiple Sclerosis Imaging Lab, led by Eric Klawiter, MD, MSc. Our patients may be eligible to take part in clinical research and/or clinical trials exploring new and promising treatments for Multiple Sclerosis.

Advanced technologies available at Mass General help us continually set new standards in the field. As a result of our sophisticated imaging capabilities, we can focus on exploring multiple sclerosis pathology in relation to structural and functional brain networks.

Active clinical trials include:

• Multiple Sclerosis Study on Brain Tissue Regeneration
• MASTER-2: A Study of Suboptimally Controlled Participants Previously Taking Oral or Infusion DMDs for RMS

Completed clinical trials include:

• A long-term observational study (no extra visits or tests) of existing therapies
• Evolution RMS: a trial of a new drug for people with relapsing Multiple Sclerosis
• Light Therapy as a Treatment for Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis
• SPRINT-MS: Safety, Tolerability and Activity Study of Ibudilast in Subjects With Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
• Disconnection as model for cognitive dysfunction in MS: Imaging study studying brain connectivity using advance MRI
• Multiple Sclerosis: Cortical Inflammation and Demyelination in Multiple Sclerosis by Combined PET and MRI