Pediatric MS

A recent alarming increase in the number of cases of pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) has prompted researchers to create the first national database of pediatric MS cases. Researchers anticipate that this database will provide insights into effective treatment, the role of environmental triggers and the natural disease course of MS in children. Funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (five-year 13.5 million dollar grant), this project will be administered by six regional medical centers, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham; the State University of New York at Buffalo; the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN; Stony Brook University in Long Island, NY; Massachusetts General Hospital for Children in Boston; and the University of California-San Francisco.

Approximately 5 percent of all cases of MS are reported to occur in children younger than 16 years although researchers suspect that the number is much higher. Up to 98 percent of children with MS initially experience recurrent attacks that alternate with periods of recovery, a form of disease known as relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). Over time, the physical disability increases even in the absence of acute disease attacks, causing a condition of secondary progressive MS (SPMS).

The MS pediatric database will help determine the true number of cases. Current studies include the effects of pediatric MS on learning and memory and the role of environmental triggers, such as Epstein-Barr Virus and low vitamin D levels.

Studies of adults show that at least 20 percent of patients with MS have an immediate family member with MS, but this connection has not yet been established in children. However, the increasing incidence of pediatric MS in females has been determined.

MS has been diagnosed in infants shortly after birth although it is primarily diagnosed in older children. Similar to MS in adults, pediatric MS is characterized by multiple episodes of neurological dysfunction that are secondary to an inflammatory demyelination process of central nervous system white matter pathways. Acute first attack syndromes are similar in children and adults. The multiple attacks of MS in children must occur more than 30 days apart for diagnosis, which is similar to the diagnostic criteria for adult MS.

The hope of the pediatric MS database is that it will offer insights to better treatment options and the role of environmental triggers in autoimmune disease development.