Multiple sclerosis in Oman

Objectives: To describe the clinical characteristics ofmultiple sclerosis (MS) seen in Oman and compare itwith those seen in the Arabian peninsula, the rest of Asiaand the Western world.Methods: A hospital based case descriptive study ofMS patients, seen at Sultan Qaboos University Hospitalin the Sultanate of Oman, between June 1990- June 2000.Results: We saw a total of 30 patients during the studyperiod, with a prevalence of 4/100,000. Mean age atonset was 27 and male to female ratio was 1.1:1. Visualand motor symptoms were the most common presentingfeatures. Lesions were distributed in the optic nerve in17, spinal cord in 16, cerebral hemispheres in 12 andbrain stem and cerebellum in 10. One third of patientshad the optico-spinal form of the disease. Twenty-threepatients had a remitting and relapsing course, 4 hadsecondary progressive and 3 had a primary progressivecourse. Cerebrospinal fluid oligoclonal band was positiveonly in 20% of patients, and we carried out HLA analysisin 24 of these patients.Conclusion: The incidence of MS is low in Oman, butsimilar to other countries in the region. The optico-spinalform of the disease constituted 30% in this series,comparable to other series reported from Asia. Generally,the clinical profile of MS seen in Oman is very similar tothose reported from the Arabian Peninsula and otherAsian regions.