Ethics approval and consent to participate
The study was approved by the ethics committee in Düsseldorf (registry number 4423).
Consent for publication
Due to the retrospective manner of this study, patient consent was waived by the ethics committee.
Availability of data and materials
The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Competing interest
JG* - received travel/meeting/accommodation reimbursements from Biogen, Merck Serono, and Sanofi-Genzyme.
CH* - declares no relevant competing interests.
HCL - declares no relevant competing interests.
KR - received research support from Novartis, Merck Serono and German Ministry of Education and Research as well as speaking fees and travel grants from Bayer Healthcare, Biogen Idec, Merck Serono, sanofi-aventis/Genzyme, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Roche, Novartis, and Guthy Jackson Charitable Foundation.
MK - received, with approval of the Rector of Heinrich-Heine University and the CEO of University of Düsseldorf Hospital honoraria for consulting, serving on steering committees and speaking from Novartis.
CS - declares no relevant competing interests.
OAd - declares no relevant competing interests.
CO - declares no relevant competing interests.
HMB - declares no relevant competing interests.
SD - declares no relevant competing interests.
SB - declares no relevant competing interests.
AS - reports consulting and lecture fees from Abbott/SJM, Boston Scientific, Teva Neuroscience, UCB, MEDA Pharma, Novartis and Abbvie as well as research grants from the German Research Council, BMBF, the German Ministery of Education and Health, and the Helmholtz Association.
HPH (outside this work) - received, with approval of the Rector of Heinrich-Heine University and the CEO of University of Düsseldorf Hospital honoraria for consulting, serving on steering committees and speaking from Biogen, CSL Behring, Geneuro, Genzyme, LFB, Medimmune, Merck Serono, Novartis, Octapharma, Opexa, Receptos/Celgene, Roche, Sanofi, and Teva.
OAk* - received, with approval of the Rector of Heinrich-Heine University, grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the German Competence Network Multiple Sclerosis (KKNMS; for NEMOS NationNMO-PAT FKZ 01GI1602B), the Eugène Devic European Network (EU-FP7), honoraria and travel/accommodation/meeting expenses from Almirall, Bayer, Biogen, Medimmune, Merck Serono, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Teva.
PA* - received, with approval of the Rector of Heinrich-Heine University and the CEO of University of Düsseldorf Hospital grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Allergan, Biogen, Ipsen, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and Roche, personal fees and non-financial support from Bayer Healthcare, Merck Serono, and Sanofi-Aventis/Genzyme, outside the submitted work.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Authors’ Contributions:
JG* - study concept/design, acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, drafting of the manuscript
CH* - study concept/design, acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, drafting of the manuscript
HCL - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
KR - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
MK - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
CS - acquisition/ analysis of data
OAd - critical revision of the manuscript
CO - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
HMB - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
SD - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
SB - acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, revision of the manuscript
AS - critical revision of the manuscript
HPH - critical revision of the manuscript
OAk* - analysis/interpretation of data, and revision of the manuscript
PA* - Study concept/design, acquisition/analysis/interpretation of data, drafting and revision of the manuscript
All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgements
Not applicable.