Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of Multiple Sclerosis in Children

How to Cite This Article: Nasehi MM, Sahraian MA, Naser Moghaddasi A, Ghofrani M, Ashtari F, Taghdiri MM, Tonekaboni SH, Karimzadeh P, Afshari M, Moosazadeh M. Clinical and Epidemiological Aspects of Multiple Sclerosisin Children. Iran J Child Neurol. Spring 2017; 11(2):37-43. Abstract Objective Overall, 2%-5% of patients with multiple sclerosis(MS) experienced the first episode of disease before the age 18 years old. Since the age of onset among children is not similar to that in general population, clinicians often fail to early diagnose the disease. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological and clinical patterns of MS among Iranian children. Materials & Methods In this cross-sectional study carried out in Iran in 2014-2015, information was collected using a checklist with approved reliability and validity. Method sampling was consensus. Data were analyzed using frequency, mean and standard deviation indices by means of SPSS ver. 20 software. Results Totally, 177 MS children were investigated. 75.7% of them were female. Mean (SD), minimum and maximum age of subjects were 15.9 (2), 7 and 18 yr, respectively. The most reported symptoms were sensory (28.2%), motor (29.4%), diplopia(20.3%) and visual (32.8%). Primary MRI results showed 91.5% and 53.1% periventricular and spinal cord lesions, respectively. Conclusion MS is significantly more common among women. The most common age of onset is during the second decades. Sensory and motor problems are the most symptoms, while, periventricular and spinal cord lesions are the most MRI results. References 1. Ascherio A, Munger K. Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis: from risk factors to prevention. Semin Neurol 2008; 28(1): 17-28. 2. Abedidni M, Habibi Saravi R, Zarvani A, Farahmand M. Epidemiologic study of multiple sclerosisin Mazandaran,Iran, 2007. J Mazandaran Univ Med Sci 2008; 18(66): 82-6. 3. Taghdiri MM, Gofrani M, Barzegar M, Moayyedi A, Tonekaboni H. The survey of 20 cases of multiple sclerosisin children in mofid hospital of Tehran. J Rehabil, 2001; 4(6-7):61-67. 4. Benito-Leon J, Martinez P. Health-related quality of life in multiple sclerosis. Neurologia 2003; 18: 207-10. 5. Nedjat S, Montazeri A, Mohammad K, Majdzadeh R, Nabavi N, Nedjat F, et al . Quality of Life in Multiple SclerosisCompared to the Healthy Population in Tehran. Iran J Epidemiol 2006; 2 (3 and 4) :19-24. 6. Marrie RA. Environmental risk factors in multiple sclerosisaetiology. Lancet Neurol 2004; 3(12):709-18. 7. Milo R, Kahana E. Multiple sclerosis:geoepidemiology, genetics and the environment. Autoimmun Rev 2010; 9(5): A387-A394. 8. Banwell B, Ghezzi A, Bar-Or A, Mikaeloff Y. Multiple sclerosisin children: clinical diagnosis, therapeutic strategies, and future directions. The Lancet Neurol, 2007;6(10):887-902. 9. Ebers GC. Environmental factors and multiple sclerosis. The Lancet Neurol, 2008;7(3):268-277. 10. Noseworthy JH, Lucchinetti C, Rodriguez M, Weinshenker BG. Multiple Sclerosis. N Engl J Med 2000; 343(13):938-52. 11. Rudick RA, Cohen JA, Weinstock-Guttman B, Kinkel RP, Ransohoff RM. Managementof multiple sclerosis. N Engl J Med 1997: 337(22): 1604-11. 12. Greer JM, McCombe PA. Role of gender in multiple sclerosis: clinical effects and potential molecular mechanisms. J Neuroimmunol 2011;234(1-2): 7-18. 13. Boiko A, Vorobeychik G, Paty D, Devonshire V, Sadovnick D. Early onset multiple sclerosisA longitudinal study. Neurology 2002; 59(7):1006-1010. 14. . Ashtari F, Shaygannejad V, Heidari F, Akbari M. Prevalence of Familial Multiple Sclerosisin Isfahan, Iran. Journal of Isfahan Medical School, 2011;29(138.2):555- 561. 15. Mazaheri S, Fazlian M, Hossein Zadeh A. Clinical and Epidemiological Features of Early and Adult Onset Multiple Sclerosisin Hamedan, Iran, 2004–2005. Yafteh 2008; 9 (4) :39-44. 16. Saman-Nezhad B, Rezaee T, Bostani A, Najafi F, Aghaei A. Epidemiological Characteristics of Patients with Multiple Sclerosisin Kermanshah, Iran in 2012. J Mazand Univ Med Sci 2013; 23(104): 97-101 (In Persian). 17. Renoux C, Vukusic S, Mikaeloff Y, EdanG. Natural history of multiple sclerosiswith childhood onset. N Engl J Med 2007. 356(25): p. 2603-2613. 18. Ness JM, Chabas D, Sadovnick AD, Pohl D, Banwell B, Weinstock-Guttman B. Clinical features of children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis. Neurology 2007; 68(16 suppl 2):S37-S45. 19. Etemadifar M, Janghorbani M,Shaygannejad V, Ashtari F . Prevalence of multiple sclerosisin Isfahan. Iran. Neuroepidemiology2006; 27(1):39-44 (In Persian). 20. Saadatnia M, Etemadifar M, Maghzi AH. Multiple sclerosisin Isfahan, Iran. Int Rev Neurobiol 2007; 79: 357-75. 21. Nabavi SM, Poorfarzam S, Ghassemi H. Clinical Course and prognosis of 203 patients with MS in shahidMostafa Khomeini Hospital, Tehran 2002, Tehran University Medical Journal, 200l 64( 7)6: 90-97.