The goal of spasticity treatment is to improve mobility, reduce pain, and control painful muscle spasms. In severely affected patients, care involves positioning in order to prevent contractures and pressure sores. The treatments offered to reduce spasticity in children with MS are very similar to methods used in children with severe spastic cerebral palsy. Initial management utilizes daily stretching and physical therapy, with particular focus on range-of-   more »

Treatment to Reduce Number of Attacks Immunomodulatory therapy. Both glatiramer acetate (GA) and interferon beta (IFNB) are immunomodulators, and decrease the relapse rate and MRI accrual of new lesions in adults with MS (IFNB Multiple Sclerosis Study Group 1993; Jacobs et al., 1996; PRISMS 2000; Comi, Filippi, &   more »

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful tool for supporting the diagnosis of MS in adults and children. The MRI appearance of pediatric MS, however, is not entirely similar to that of adult-onset MS, particularly in younger children. The increasing recognition and   more »

The diagnosis of pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) is challenging due to its low frequency and the overlap with other acquired childhood demyelinating disorders of the   more »

Many symptoms may accompany an MS relapse, which by definition, lasts at least 24 hours. Sensory symptoms:   more »

Pediatric MS requires multiple episodes of CNS demyelination separated in time (by four weeks or more) and space (involving new areas of the CNS) just as is specified for adults. MRI evidence of new lesions in new CNS locations can be used to meet the   more »

Children with MS have been shown to have a significantly increased likelihood, relative to healthy age-matched peers, of being previously infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (Alotaibi et al., 2004). EBV infection leads to persistent B-cell infection, and B-cells are known to play a role in MS. Study of children enrolled   more »

Multiple sclerosis (MS) in children is being recognized with increasing frequency. The first descriptions of MS in children were published by Charcot between 1829 and 1849, though it was not for another 50 years that MS in children was again described in the literature (Hanefeld, 2007). There are now several national programs focused   more »

Researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Canada have shown an association between paediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) and the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), indicating that exposure to the virus at a certain time in childhood may be an important   more »

Patients who develop multiple sclerosis (MS) before age 18 appear to experience more relapses of symptoms than those diagnosed with the disease as adults, according to a study published in the January   more »

To determine the safety, effectiveness, and tolerability of natalizumab use in pediatric   more »

two patients, both of whom had onset of symptoms at less than 10 years of age. The presentation and symptomatology are also different from the usual ‘typical’ cases of multiple sclerosis.   more »

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not just for adults. In fact, this debilitating disease has been diagnosed in children as young as two years old. But thanks to the pioneering work of researchers like   more »

Italian researchers compared cognitive function between 63 children with MS and 57 controls without MS, and found significant impairment in about one-third of the children with MS. The   more »

Pemoline belongs to the group of medicines called central nervous system (CNS) stimulants. It is used to treat children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Pemoline increases attention and decreases restlessness in   more »