Study to Evaluate Intravenous and Oral Steroids for Multiple Sclerosis Attacks

Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Trial

Official title: Oral Megadose Corticosteroid Therapy of Acute Exacerbations of Multiple Sclerosis (OMEGA)

Status Terminated

Clinical Trial Summary

This clinical trial compares the relative efficacy of treating acute exacerbations of relapsing forms of Multiple Sclerosis with equivalent doses of oral and intravenous (IV) methylprednisolone. This is a randomized, blinded, multi-center study.

Clinical Trial Description

Intravenous methylprednisolone has been the standard of care for treating acute MS flares. However, the IV administration is cumbersome, inconvenient and expensive. A true comparison of these different approaches has not been undertaken in rigorous fashion. Prior studies have demonstrated the safety of such high doses of oral steroid. For this proposal we employ equivalent oral dosing (1400 mg/day) and compare that to 1000 mg/day IV therapy in patients seen within seven days of an acute exacerbation of MS.

In addition, there are 2 arms to this double-blind, placebo controlled, randomized trial. One arm has an active IV and an oral placebo while the second arm has an IV placebo and an active oral dose. Therefore, each subject will receive an active treatment. ;

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Multiple Sclerosis
• Sclerosis

• NCT number: NCT00418145
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Status: Terminated
• Phase: Phase 3
• Start date: September 2003
• Completion date: October 2013