Predicting Disability in Pediatric MS

To identify predictors of disability in pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), investigators followed 123 pediatric MS patients for up to 9 years and collected clinical and imaging assessments at onset, 1 year, and 2 years.

Annualized relapse rate was relatively low; baseline presence of lesions involving the cerebellum and cervical spine lesions predicted increased annualized relapse rate. Predictors of worsening 9-year disability included presence of an optic nerve or cerebellar lesion at baseline, expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score changes over the first or second year, and presence of ≥2 new T2 lesions in the first 2 years.