Early Adversity and Socioeconomic Factors in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: A Case-Control Study.

Background And Objectives: Psychosocial adversity and stress, known to predispose adults to neurodegenerative and inflammatory immune disorders, are widespread among children who experience socioeconomic disadvantage, and the associated neurotoxicity and proinflammatory profile may predispose these children to multiple sclerosis (MS). We sought to determine associations of socioeconomic disadvantage and psychosocial adversity with odds of pediatric-onset MS (POMS), age at POMS onset, and POMS disease activity.

Methods: This case-control study used data collected across 17 sites in the United States by the Environmental and Genetic Risk Factors for Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study.

Pathogen and Antibody Identification in Children with Encephalitis in Myanmar.

Objective: Prospective studies of encephalitis are rare in regions where encephalitis is prevalent, such as low middle-income Southeast Asian countries. We compared the diagnostic yield of local and advanced tests in cases of pediatric encephalitis in Myanmar.

Methods: Children with suspected subacute or acute encephalitis at Yangon Children's Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar, were prospectively recruited from 2016-2018.

Case Report: A Novel Pathogenic Variant in Central Nervous System Hypomyelination/Vanishing White Matter.

Leukodystrophies are a group of heterogeneous disorders affecting brain myelin. Among those, childhood ataxia with central nervous system hypomyelination/vanishing white matter (CACH/VWM) is one of the more common inherited leukodystrophies. Pathogenic variants in one of the genes encoding five subunits of EIF2B are associated with CACH/VWM.

Excellent Outcome of Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy in an Adult With Bacterial Infections, Case Report.

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) is a rare para-infectious encephalopathy that classically occurs in children. However, ANE should be considered in the differential diagnosis of adults with symmetric brain lesions after a prodromal illness given recent reports of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) to presumably cause ANE in adults. We report a case of a 29-year-old male presenting with fever, malaise, and rapid deterioration into coma.

Familial History of Autoimmune Disorders Among Patients With Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether family members of patients with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) have an increased prevalence of autoimmune conditions compared with controls.

Methods: Data collected during a pediatric MS case-control study of risk factors included information about various autoimmune diseases in family members. The frequency of these disorders was compared between cases and controls.

Xq22 deletions and correlation with distinct neurological disease traits in females: Further evidence for a contiguous gene syndrome.

Xq22 deletions that encompass PLP1 (Xq22-PLP1-DEL) are notable for variable expressivity of neurological disease traits in females ranging from a mild late-onset form of spastic paraplegia type 2 (MIM# 312920), sometimes associated with skewed X-inactivation, to an early-onset neurological disease trait (EONDT) of severe developmental delay, intellectual disability, and behavioral abnormalities. Size and gene content of Xq22-PLP1-DEL vary and were proposed as potential molecular etiologies underlying variable expressivity in carrier females where two smallest regions of overlap (SROs) were suggested to influence disease. We ascertained a cohort of eight unrelated patients harboring Xq22-PLP1-DEL and performed high-density array comparative genomic hybridization and breakpoint-junction sequencing.

Genetic, Phenotypic, and Interferon Biomarker Status in ADAR1-Related Neurological Disease.

We investigated the genetic, phenotypic, and interferon status of 46 patients from 37 families with neurological disease due to mutations in . The clinicoradiological phenotype encompassed a spectrum of Aicardi-Goutières syndrome, isolated bilateral striatal necrosis, spastic paraparesis with normal neuroimaging, a progressive spastic dystonic motor disorder, and adult-onset psychological difficulties with intracranial calcification. Homozygous missense mutations were recorded in five families.

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in 228 patients: A retrospective, multicenter US study.

Objective: To analyze the range of demographic, clinical, MRI, and CSF features of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a rare, typically monophasic demyelinating disorder, and analyze long-term outcomes including time and risk factors for subsequent clinical events as well as competing diagnoses.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, multicenter study in 4 US academic medical centers of all patients clinically diagnosed with ADEM. Initial presentation of pediatric and adult ADEM and monophasic and multiphasic disease were compared.

HIV-Related Cognitive Impairment of Orphans in Myanmar With Vertically Transmitted HIV Taking Antiretroviral Therapy.

Objective: We determined the effect of perinatally acquired HIV on neurocognition in Myanmar children treated with antiretroviral therapy by comparison to demographically matched seronegative children.

Background: Myanmar has one of the highest HIV-1 prevalence rates in Southeast Asia. Studies from other resource-poor countries have shown that HIV-infected children differ in socioeconomic, nutritional and caregiver status compared to normal controls.

Factors Associated With Discharge After Initial Emergency Treatment of Pediatric Migraine.

Objective: Migraine treatment varies widely in the pediatric emergency department (ED). Factors associated with discharge after only initial emergency treatment were examined.

Methods: A retrospective chart analysis was conducted on patients 6 to 18 years old who presented to the St.

Pediatric Hemorrhagic Brainstem Encephalitis Associated With HHV-7 Infection.

Background: Human herpesviruses-6 and -7 have been associated with febrile seizures and with encephalitis, the latter predominantly in immunocompromised individuals. Acute hemorrhagic encephalitis is frequently a fatal disease that can occur in the setting of viral infection or can be a postinfectious phenomenon, often with no cause identified. Although hemorrhagic encephalitis has been reported with human herpesvirus-6 infection, only one individual, an immunocompromised child, has been documented with human herpesvirus-7 infection.