Rev Neurol France
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The influence of pregnancy in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been a matter of controversy for a long time. Women with MS were often discouraged to envisage pregnancy. The Pregnancy in Multiple Sclerosis (PRIMS) study was the first large-scale prospective study aimed at assessing the possible influence of pregnancy and delivery on the clinical course of MS. ⋯ It seems unwise therefore to use this kind of model to select women that would benefit from a putative preventive therapy. The PRIMS study had other major consequences: it fostered the development of specific therapeutic strategies to prevent post partum relapses (IV immunoglobulins, IV methylprednisolone), and suggested a potential role of sexual hormones in the natural history of MS during pregnancy and the post partum, therefore identifying them as a preferential target for prevention. The preventive effect of progesterone combined with estradiol on post partum relapses will be tested in a large-scale randomized and placebo-controlled European trial, the POPART'MUS study.