Multiple sclerosis starting before the age of 18 years: the Brazilian experience

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) starting in childhood and adolescence poses a challenge for diagnosis and management of the disease. The aim of the present study was to assess the characteristics of early onset MS in Brazilian patients. Methods: Retrospective data collection from specialized MS units. Results: From 20 MS units in 11 Brazilian states, 117 cases of MS starting before the age of 18 years were collected. These patients had an average of 10 years of disease duration, still typically with low disability and one relapse every 2.5 years. The mean age for disease onset was 13.7 years. Conclusion: The present study introduces a large series of Brazilian cases of pediatric MS. Although some patients presented a very severe form of MS, on the whole the group of patients with MS starting in childhood or adolescence presented a relatively mild form of this disease in Brazil.

Unfavorable outcome of pediatric onset multiple sclerosis: Follow-up in the pediatric and adult neurology departments of one referral center, in Turkey

“…In our series the ratio of pediatric MS to total MS was 3.9%, within the range given in other studies 1.7-10.5% (Chitnis et al, 2009;Renoux et al, 2007;Simone et al, 2002;Boiko et al, 2002;Ozakbas et al, 2003;Fragoso et al, 2013;Deryck et al, 2006;Ghezzi et al, 1997). Also the rate of MS starting before 10 years old (0.3%) is compatible with literature (Renoux et al, 2007;Boiko et al, 2002;Ozakbas et al, 2003;Harding et al, 2013).…”

Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis in the United Arab Emirates: Characteristics From a Multicenter Study and Global Comparison

“…Interferon beta-1a was commonly prescribed in other international cohorts. 9,19 Nearly half of patients reported that they had switched medications during childhood, similar to rates reported in other studies. 22 It is unclear in this group whether patients switched therapies because of uncontrollable multiple sclerosis versus intolerance to side effects.…”

“…In this study, the age group 0 to 19 is used for pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis to facilitate comparison with international populations. 6,9,18,19 Population denominator data is reported in 5-year age groups 0 to 4, 5 to 9, 10 to 14, and 15 to 19. Incidence and prevalence rates were calculated as follows: cases of pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis were ascertained from four secondary/tertiary care centers in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in December 2014 (prevalence day).…”

“…[3][4][5] In the United States, a recent multi-center study reported the clinical characteristics of 490 children with multiple sclerosis. 6 Smaller case series from Germany, 7 Turkey, 8 Brazil, 9 Venezuela, 10 Iraq, 11 Kuwait, 12 Korea, 13 and Australia have been published allowing for global comparison of the phenotype. 14 To our knowledge, only a few studies of the incidence, prevalence, and characteristics of multiple sclerosis have been conducted in the UAE.…”

Pediatric versus adult MS: similar or different?

“…In addition to numerous studies carried out in NorthAmerica and Europe, recent studies have been published on pediatric cohorts of selected populations (Hispanic North-Americans) [9] or from other countries such as Turkey, Kuwait, Iran, Brazil, Marroch, Korea and Japan [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], indicating an increased interest in this area of clinical research. Many papers have been recently published giving a better definition of incidence, clinical aspects, pathophysiology, immunology, neuroimaging and treatment: a summary of these studies is provided by a recent publication of the International Pediatric MS Study Group [18].…”