Recommendations for switching patients with highly active multiple sclerosis from other disease modifying drugs for multiple sclerosis to cladribine tablets

• Published in: Nevrologii͡a︡, neĭropsikhiatrii͡a︡, psikhosomatika Vol. 12; no. 5; pp. 138 - 145
• Main Authors: Totolyan, N. A., Alifirova, V. M., Bakhtiyarova, K. Z., Boyko, A. N., Vlasov, Ya. V., Goncharova, Z. A., Zakharova, M. N., Kasatkin, D. S., Kotov, S. V., Nilov, A. I., Sivertseva, S. A., Sokolova, A. A., Spirin, N. N., Khabirov, F. A., Paradnika, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: IMA-PRESS LLC 2020
• Subjects: cladribine tablets; disease-modifying drugs for multiple sclerosis; highly active multiple sclerosis
• ISSN: 2074-2711; 2310-1342
• DOI: 10.14412/2074-2711-2020-5-138-145

The need for optimal treatment of the active forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), especially highly active MS (HAMS), poses a number of difficult problems for specialists, including not only the choice of a highly effective disease-modifying drug for MS (DMDMS), but also conditions for the timely and safe switching from other DMDMS. A group of expert neurologists from various clinics in Russia presents a consensus on the practical aspects of switching patients with HAMS from other DMDMS to cladribine tablets, which has been registered in Russia in March 2020. The paper discusses indications for changing therapy and gives indications, contraindications, and conditions for initiating cladribine therapy. It details the procedure and results of the expert consensus, on the basis of which the recommendations have been developed to switch to cladribine tablets from each of the DMDMS registered in Russia for the treatment of MS.