The practicality of the latest revision of the McDonald criteria for diagnosing MS was the subject of a formal debate at ECTRIMS.
The revised criteria – known as the McDonald 2017 criteria – were published early in 2018. The changes from the previous 2010 criteria included:
- Oligoclonal bands (OCBs) count as dissemination in time
- A symptomatic lesion counts towards dissemination in space and time
- A cortical lesion is equivalent to a juxtacortical lesion
- Anterior visual findings are taken into account.
The motion under debate was “The new McDonald diagnostic criteria make them difficult to use in clinical practice”.