Children may have various symptoms within five years before MS diagnosis

 Children and adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a range of symptoms, signs, and diagnoses within five years before diagnosis, according to a study published online Dec. 27 in JAMA Network Open.

Manas K. Akmatov, Ph.D., from the Central Research Institute of Ambulatory Health Care in Berlin, and colleagues systematically assessed diseases and symptoms diagnosed in the five years before a first MS or central nervous system demyelinating disease-related diagnostic code in pediatric patients versus controls without MS or those with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The population-based, matched case-control study included 1,091 children and adolescents (aged younger than 18 years) with MS; 10,910 without MS; and 1,068 with JIA.

The researchers found nine International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision, German Modification codes more often in children with MS in the five years before first diagnosis than among controls without MS: obesity, disorders of eye refraction and accommodation, visual disturbances, gastritis and duodenitis, patella disorders, heartbeat abnormalities, flatulence, skin sensation disturbances, and dizziness and giddiness (adjusted odds ratios, 1.70, 1.26, 1.31, 1.35, 1.47, 1.94, 1.43, 12.93, and 1.52, respectively). Of those codes, four were significantly more prevalent among children with MS than controls with JIA: obesity, refraction and accommodation disorders, visual disturbances, and skin sensation disturbances (adjusted odds ratios, 3.19, 3.08, 1.62, and 27.70)

"To our knowledge, this is the first study that systematically examined diagnoses made years before an initial MS diagnosis in a pediatric setting," the authors write.

More information: Manas K. Akmatov et al, Symptoms Prior to Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in Individuals Younger Than 18 Years, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.52652

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