Early-Onset Multiple Sclerosis: Reports of 300 Patients from Iran

The epidemiologic data on demographic features of early-onset multiple sclerosis (EOMS) are rare in the Middle East, and no previous study has explored it. We aim to perform a neuroepidemiologic analysis to emphasize on the demographic features of EOMS in Tehran, Iran, during 2005-2015.

Our study was performed in Tehran, Iran; the research included patients with EOMS who had experienced their first symptoms before the age of 18 years and those who were referred to Iranian Multiple Sclerosis Society in Tehran during 2005-2015. A total of 300 patients were contacted and filled the checklists by themselves or the physician. The checklist contained data about gender, age at the onset, the first symptom, time interval between the first presentation and the diagnosis, clinical course, family history of MS, and history of smoking in parents.

Among the patients with EOMS, 78% were female and 22% were male. Average age of disease onset was 15.6 years (standard deviation, 2.6 years), mean time interval between the first symptoms and disease diagnosis was 16.8 months, the shortest time interval measured was 0.1 month, and the longest time interval was 144 months. The first symptom at the onset of the disease was ocular in 140 patients and sensory in 82 patients. Approximately 16.7% of the patients had a positive family history for MS. The most common clinical course of disease was relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). Parental smoking history was negative in 63.3% of the patients.

In our study, the EOMS was higher in females. Despite the earlier studies, it was found that the polysymptomatic onset was not very common. Optic neuritis was the most initial presentation and RRMS was the most frequent course.