MRI-based diagnostic biomarkers for early onset pediatric multiple sclerosis.

Currently, it is unclear whether pediatric multiple sclerosis (PMS) is a pathoetiologically homogeneous disease phenotype due to clinical and epidemiological differences between early and late onset PMS (EOPMS and LOPMS). Consequently, the question was raised whether diagnostic guidelines need to be complemented by specific EOPMS markers. To search for such markers, we analyzed cerebral MRI images acquired with standard protocols using computer-based classification techniques.

Pediatric onset multiple sclerosis: McDonald criteria 2010 and the contribution of spinal cord MRI.

Background: Diagnostic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria have not been sufficiently validated in pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) despite differences in epidemiologic data and clinical disease courses between pediatric and adult MS.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to evaluate the diagnostic applicability and validity of the revised McDonald diagnostic criteria 2010 in a large cohort of pediatric-onset MS patients (POMS) and compare them to previously recommended MRI-based classifications. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate the contribution of spinal cord lesions to the revised McDonald criteria 2010.