About the Authors

Karen Ann Ribbons

Karen.Ribbons@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au

Affiliation John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia

Patrick McElduff

Affiliation University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia

Cavit Boz

Affiliation Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey

Maria Trojano

Affiliation University of Bari, Bari, Italy

Guillermo Izquierdo

Affiliation Hospital Universitario, Sevilla, Spain

Pierre Duquette

Affiliation Hopital Notre Dame, Montreal, Canada

Marc Girard

Affiliation Hopital Notre Dame, Montreal, Canada

Francois Grand’Maison

Affiliation Neuro Rive-Sud, Quebec, Canada

Raymond Hupperts

Affiliation Maaslandziekenhuis, Sittard, The Netherlands

Pierre Grammond

Affiliation Hotel-Dieu de Levis, Quebec, Canada

Celia Oreja-Guevara

Affiliation University Hospital La Paz, IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain

Thor Petersen

Affiliation Kommunehospitalet, Arhus C, Denmark

Roberto Bergamaschi

Affiliation Neurological Institute IRCCS Mondino, Pavia, Italy

Giorgio Giuliani

Affiliation Ospedale di Macerata, Macerata, Italy

Michael Barnett

Affiliation Brain and Mind Research Institute, Sydney, Australia

Vincent van Pesch

Affiliation Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium

Maria-Pia Amato

Affiliation Department of Neurology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

Gerardo Iuliano

Affiliation Ospedali Riuniti di Salerno, Salerno, Italy

Marcela Fiol

Affiliation FLENI, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mark Slee

Affiliation Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, Australia

Freek Verheul

Affiliation Groen Hart Ziekenhuis, Gouda, Netherlands

Edgardo Cristiano

Affiliation Hospital Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ricardo Fernandez-Bolanos

Affiliation Hospital Universitario Virgen de Valme, Seville, Spain

Maria-Laura Saladino

Affiliation Craigavon Area Hospital, Craigavon, Northern Ireland

Maria Edite Rio

Affiliation Hospital S. João, Porto, Portugal

Jose Cabrera-Gomez

Affiliation Multiple Sclerosis Clinic, International Center of Neurological Restoration, Havana, Cuba

Helmut Butzkueven

Affiliation Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

Erik van Munster

Affiliation Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis, Den Bosch, Netherlands

Leontien Den Braber-Moerland

Affiliation Francicus Ziekenhuis, Roosendaal, Netherlands

Daniele La Spitaleri

Affiliation AORN San Giuseppe Moscati, Avellino, Italy

Alessandra Lugaresi

Affiliation Dept Neuroscience and Imaging—Univ "G. d'Annunzio", Chieti, Italy

Vahid Shaygannejad

Affiliation Al-Zahara Hopsital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Orla Gray

Affiliation Craigavon Area Hospital, Armagh, Northern Ireland

Norma Deri

Affiliation Hospital Fernandez, Capital Federal, Argentina

Raed Alroughani

Affiliation Amiri Hospital, Qurtoba, Kuwait

Jeannette Lechner-Scott

Affiliation John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia

Competing Interests

Merck Serono supports iMED which is the software program used by MSBASE for data acquisition at each collaborating centre and does not impact on the studies derived from data collected by this program. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KAR PM JLS. Performed the experiments: KAR PM CB MT G. Izquierdo PD MG FGM RH PG COG TP RB GG MB VVP MPA G. Iuliano MF MS FV EC RFB MLS MER JCG HB EVM LDBM DLS AL VS OG ND RA JLS. Analyzed the data: KAR PM JLS. Wrote the paper: KAR PM JLS HB.