New diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis (MS) have been proposed by Swanton and co authors, but were not yet evaluated in patients suspected of MS, but diagnosed with another disease. The dissemination in space (DIS) criterion of these Swanton criteria was investigated in such a patient group and compared with the present McDonald criteria. We found that with the Swanton criteria for DIS, simplicity can be combined with some gain in sensitivity, without major loss of specificity.