Early-Onset Multiple Sclerosis With Frequent Relapses: A Challenging Diagnosis With a Less Favorable Prognosis

Abstract

Pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) is a rare demyelinating disease of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerve caused by immune modulators mediating against the neuronal axons of the central nervous system. MS is usually characterized by a series of neurological events, without any features of encephalopathy, separated in time and space. The complications arise from the permanent degeneration of the nerves. This condition can be diagnosed based on International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group diagnostic criteria, and there is no definitive treatment for MS. We report the case of a male child who was diagnosed with MS at the age of six years when he presented with right hemiparesis and visual impairment. Subsequently, he had multiple relapses with varied neurological presentations, and each relapse was treated with methylprednisolone.

The Clinical and Epidemiological Profile of Paediatric-Onset Multiple Sclerosis in Poland

“…Despite the large number of changes in MRI and the initially high disability in EDSS, children showed a faster improvement rate than adults, often followed by a complete relief of symptoms. This remains in line with previous observations that, despite severe relapses, symptoms usually remitted, whereas the compensatory capacity of the nervous system in young patients effectively counteracted the rapid progression of disability [27,28]. Although the time required to approach the threshold of damaging motor neurons-consequently resulting in irreversible disability-is approx.…”