چكيده لاتين :
Objective:
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of central nervous system (CNS) that is increasingly being recognized as a disease affecting children. However, the cl inical features of childhood MS at onset have been rarely reported from Asia.
Materials & Methods:
This report presents a retrospective chart review of 26 patients with MS (20 females and 6 males), wi th an onset age of MS of less than 16 years, in the south of Iran between March 200Iand November 2007; it documents researchersי experiences
Results:
Female/male ratio was 3:1. Mean age in females was higher than males (13 vs.12.16).The disease was highly variable in onset presentation; the most common initi al symptoms were limb weakness, disequilibrium, and diplopia. Three patients had a positive fami ly history of MS in their first degree relatives. YEP was abnormal in 9 of 19(47%,). M RI demonstrated multip le plaques in the brain in 24(92%) cases. Relapse remi tting MS was a dominant pattern noticed in 23(88%) cases.
Conclusion:
MS, in childhood, is not as rare as commonly believed; although its diagnosis is essentially a clinical one, paraclinical investigations are of great value in the identi fication of demyelinating disorders in childhood. The disease, as it occurs in chi ldren, does not appear to differ cl inically from the disease as observed in
adults. If pediatricians shou ld confront a child showing evidence of scattered neurological deficits that remit, particularly weakness, disturbance of vision and co-ordination, they need to consider the possibility of MS.
