Clinical and imageology follow-up study of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the clinical manifestations and recovery from neuroimaging abnormalities of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM),in order to improve the understanding of ADEM.Methods A total of 47 children with ADEM in Department of Neurology,Children′s Hospital of Soochow University were followed up for 1 year.The clinical manifestations,auxiliary examination (especially neuroimaging),treatment and prognosis were analyzed.The recovery conditions from clinical and neuroimaging abnormalities were summarized.Results Among 47 cases,37 cases (78.72%) had prodromic infection history,and 5 cases (10.64%) had the history of vaccination.The clinical manifestations were varied,including 36 cases (76.60%) with somatic discomfort,30 cases (63.83%) with fever,30 cases (63.83%) with disturbance of consciousness,28 cases (59.57%) with epileptic seizure,24 cases (51.06%) with headache and dizziness,22 cases (46.81%) with nausea and vomiting,15 cases (31.91%) with dyskinesia,15 cases (31.91%) with cranial nerve injury,9 cases (19.14%) with incoordination,and 8 cases (17.02%) with mental and behavior disorders.Abnormal lesions presented multiple,asymmetric patchy and large patchy signal image showed by brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),and 7 cases (14.89%) involved the spinal cord.All patients received the treatment of Methylprednisolone [15-20 mg/(kg·d)] combined with intravenous gamma globulin (total 2 g/kg,3 to 5 days).The dose of Methylprednisolone gradually decreased after it had been used for 3 days.In the end,it was replaced by an oral administration of Prednisone [1.0-2.0 mg/(kg·d)],and the total treatment period was for 2-3 months.The follow-ups of 47 children with ADEM showed that the MRI lesions of all the children were reduced and the MRI lesions in 4 (8.51%) of them disappeared completely after 0.5 month of follow-up;the lesions disappeared completely in 13 cases (27.66%) after 1 month of follow-up;the lesions disappeared completely in 23 cases (48.94%) after 3 months of follow-up;the lesions disappeared completely in 32 cases (68.09%) after 6 months of follow-up;the lesions disappeared completely in 43 cases (91.49%) after 1 year of follow-up;and finally there were 4 cases (8.51%) with residual lesions.Conclusion The clinical manifestations of children with ADEM are varied.Most children with ADEM have a favorable prognosis.Imaging lesions of 68.09% of the cases completely disappeared after the onset of 6 months.Imaging lesions in 91.49% of the cases completely disa-ppeared at the onset of 1 year.Only a small fraction of patients present permanent lesions.