Disease-modifying therapy in pediatric multiple sclerosis

Onset of multiple sclerosis (MS) in childhood and adolescence has now been well-recognized over the past 10-15 years. There have been significant advances in the understanding of the disease course of pediatric MS, which is highly inflammatory, with a higher relapse rate than adult MS. High-efficacy, disease-modifying treatments are recommended for the management of pediatric MS, and these treatments have been studied in open-label and retrospective studies, several of which are outlined here. Fingolimod (Gilenya) is approved for pediatric MS in the United States and many world regions. Several treatments used for adult MS are now being trialed in pediatric MS.