State-of-the-Art Review: Demyelinating Diseases in Indonesia

Demyelinating diseases are more common in Indonesia than previously believed. However, it is still a challenge for a country such as Indonesia to implement the scientific medical advances, especially in the diagnostic process of demyelinating diseases, to achieve the best possible outcome for these groups of patients, within the constraints of what is socially, technologically, economically, and logistically achievable. In this review, we address the 4 major classes of demyelinating disease: multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica (NMO), anti-MOG-associated encephalomyelitis (MOG-EM), and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), and discuss their prevalence, demographics, clinical diagnosis workup, and imaging features in the Indonesian population, as well as the challenges we face in their diagnosis and therapeutic approach. We hope that this overview will lead to a better awareness of the spectrum of demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system in Indonesia.