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Published on: June 30, 2014
Pediatric multiple sclerosis
1Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. tchitnis@partners.org
Insights
Pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) requires specialized, multidisciplinary care. This review familiarizes clinicians with diagnosis, clinical course, and management strategies for pediatric MS.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pediatrics
- Immunology
Background:
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) is increasingly recognized in pediatric populations.
- Pediatric MS presents unique diagnostic and management challenges.
- Specialized care is essential, including medication, physical therapy, and psychosocial support.
Purpose of the Study:
- Familiarize clinicians with clinical and MRI features of pediatric MS.
- Summarize the current understanding of the pediatric MS disease course.
- Highlight differential diagnoses and management strategies for pediatric MS.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of clinical and MRI features.
- Synthesis of current knowledge on disease course.
- Discussion of differential diagnoses and management.
Main Results:
- Pediatric MS has distinct clinical and MRI characteristics.
- Understanding the disease course is crucial for management.
- Effective management requires addressing physical, cognitive, and psychosocial aspects.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric MS patients require a multidisciplinary approach.
- Further multicenter studies are needed.
- Research should focus on treatment effects on physical, psychosocial, and developmental parameters.
Background:
It is becoming ever more recognized that multiple sclerosis (MS) occurs in children and adolescents. Although early-onset MS is a variant in the spectrum of MS phenotypes, the diagnosis and management of MS in children poses a unique set of challenges for the clinician. Moreover, it is increasingly clear that these patients require specialized care, which includes a closely monitored medication program, physical therapy, cognitive and educational evaluation and intervention, and psychosocial support both for the patient and family.
Review Summary:
The goal of this article is to familiarize the clinician with the clinical and MRI features of pediatric multiple sclerosis and to summarize what is currently known about the clinical disease course. This article highlights important entities in the differential diagnosis of pediatric MS and discusses management strategies based on current literature.
Conclusion:
Children and adolescents with MS comprise a small but important subset of MS patients who require a multidisciplinary care approach. Additional multicenter studies are required to explore the effects of disease and treatments on physical, psychosocial, educational, and developmental parameters.
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