Natural History of Multiple Sclerosis with Childhood Onset

Patients with childhood-onset MS accrue disability more slowly than patients with adult onset but reach disability milestones at younger ages.

The goal of this cohort study was to describe the disease course and prognosis of childhood-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) compared with those of adult-onset MS. A cohort of 394 patients with MS onset at or before the age of 16 years and a comparison group of 1775 patients with adult-onset MS were identified from the European Database for Multiple Sclerosis (EDMUS). Data were collected from 1976 to 2003. Both pediatric and adult patients were classified as having definite or probable MS on the basis of the Poser criteria.

Age at MS onset in children ranged from 1.5 to 16.0 years. The gender ratio was similar in children younger versus older than 12 years at diagnosis; approximately two thirds of patients were female. Only 9 of the 394 pediatr…

Reviewing Author

Tanuja Chitnis, MD