Course and prognosis in early-onset MS: comparison with adult-onset forms.

摘要

OBJECTIVES: To establish the prognostic role of clinical and demographic factors in a hospital-based cohort of MS patients categorized by age at clinical onset and clinical course. METHODS: Eighty-three patients with MS had a clinical onset of the disease in childhood (age 14 years); in AOMS, other unfavorable factors were a pyramidal involvement at onset and a high relapse frequency in the first 2 years. The risk of entering secondary progression was significantly influenced by a high number of relapses in EOMS and by a higher age at onset and a short interattack interval in AOMS. CONCLUSION: A slower rate of progression of disease characterized EOMS patients, suggesting more plasticity to recover in developing CNS, but the early clinical manifestation cannot be considered a positive prognostic factor.