Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis or multiple sclerosis: can the initial presentation help in establishing a correct diagnosis?

The differential diagnosis of CNS white matter disease is broad, and can be divided into vascular, metabolic, infective, or inflammatory aetiologies. Isolated inflammatory disorders of the CNS are often associated with demyelination, and the two terms (inflammatory and demyelinating) are often used...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of disease in childhood 2005-06, Vol.90 (6), p.636-639
Main Authors: Dale, R C, Branson, J A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
ADEM
Adult
Adults
Analysis
Anatomy
Autoimmune diseases
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
central nervous system
Cerebrospinal fluid. Meninges. Spinal cord
Child
Children
CNS
Consciousness
demyelination
Diagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
Diagnostic tests
Differential diagnosis
Diseases
Encephalitis
Encephalomyelitis
Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated - diagnosis
Encephalomyelitis, Acute Disseminated - drug therapy
Humans
Individualized Instruction
Infections
Laboratories
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
MDEM
Medical sciences
multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis - diagnosis
Multiple Sclerosis - drug therapy
Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis
Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes)
Neurology
optic neuritis
Optics
Patients
Pediatric diseases
Prognosis
Review
Studies
Trends
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
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Description
Summary:The differential diagnosis of CNS white matter disease is broad, and can be divided into vascular, metabolic, infective, or inflammatory aetiologies. Isolated inflammatory disorders of the CNS are often associated with demyelination, and the two terms (inflammatory and demyelinating) are often used in conjunction. When the disease is monophasic, the term acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is used.1 ADEM typically occurs as a post-infectious phenomenon, and by definition, must be an isolated (monophasic) episode. If a relapse occurs shortly after the ADEM presentation in association with a further infection or steroid withdrawal, the term MDEM (multiphasic disseminated encephalomyelitis) is used. When there are relapses or progressive disease, the term multiple sclerosis (MS) is used (for full recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis refer to McDonald and colleagues2).
ISSN:0003-9888
1468-2044
DOI:10.1136/adc.2004.062935