Safety and efficacy of fingolimod in clinical practice: The experience of an academic center in the Middle East

Abstract

Background: Few published studies addressed real-world clinical experience with fingolimod especially in the Middle East region. Objective: To review our clinical experience with fingolimod at a specialized academic MS center in Lebanon. Methods: All patients treated with fingolimod at the MS Center between October 2011 and January 2015 were retrospectively identified. Results: A total of 122 patients were included. The first dose observation was uneventful in 98.8% of patients. Annualized relapse rate decreased from 1.16 pre-treatment to 0.29 post-treatment representing a relative risk reduction of 75% (p < 0.0001). The proportion of patients with no new T2 or enhancing lesions was 66.3%. Seventy-six (62.3%) patients experienced adverse events with lymphopenia, increase liver enzymes, urinary tract infections and fatigue being the most common. Conclusion: Our cohort confirms the effectiveness and safety of fingolimod in a real world setting.