From the retrospective study of 3375 patients affected by clinically definite or probable
multiple sclerosis (MS), 149 patients were collected with onset of the disease before the age
of 16 years (4.4%). Female/male ratio was higher than that of the adult onset MS (AOMS)
population (2.2 vs 1.6) particularly at ages of onset after 12 years (3.0, P= 0.007 vs AOMS).
Among initial symptoms, those suggesting brainstem dysfunction (25%) were more frequent
compared to other systems and compared to AOMs symptoms; motor and sensory …

Multiple sclerosis (MS) usually starts in adult life, from 20 to 40 years. It is rare before 15
years, occurring in about 3-5% of cases, and is exceptional before 10 years:'-4 only 16
cases with onset before 5 years have been collected by Hanefeld et al from studies
published up to 19915 and, to our knowledge, the youngest case is that described by Shaw
and Alvord, 6 with onset at 11 months. Most studies of MS in childhood describe single
cases or small groups of patients'-15 and do not clearly evidence possible distinct …