Analysis of the Group of Pediatric Patients With Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Data From the Czech National Registry

Martin Vališ; Zbyšek Pavelek; Michal Novotný; Blanka Klímová; Jana Šarláková; Simona Halúsková; Marek Peterka; Ivana Štětkárová; Pavel Štourač; Jan Mareš; Pavel Hradílek; Radek Ampapa; Marta Vachová; Eva Recmanová; Eva Meluzínová

doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.851426

Analysis of the Group of Pediatric Patients With Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Data From the Czech National Registry

Front Neurol. 2022 Apr 18:13:851426. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.851426. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czechia.
² Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Plzen, Charles University, Plzen, Czechia.
³ Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Hospital Kralovské Vinohrady, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.
⁴ Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Palacky University and University Hospital Olomouc, Olomouc, Czechia.
⁶ Clinic of Neurology, University Hospital Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia.
⁷ Department of Neurology, Hospital of Jihlava, Jihlava, Czechia.
⁸ Department of Neurology, KZ a.s., Hospital Teplice, Teplice, Czechia.
⁹ Department of Neurology, Tomas Bata Regional Hospital, Zlín, Czechia.
¹⁰ Department of Neurology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.

Abstract

Importance: Multiple sclerosis can also affect children. Approximately 3-10% of patients develop multiple sclerosis before the age of 16.

Objective: The aim of this analysis is to describe the characteristics of pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis who started their treatment with disease-modifying drugs in 2013-2020, with data obtained from the Czech National Registry of patients with multiple sclerosis.

Design and setting: A method of retrospective analysis conducted with 134 pediatric patients with multiple sclerosis was used.

Results: The findings reveal that the mean age at the date of the introduction of the first disease-modifying drugs treatment is 15.89 years, and gender does not play any role. In addition, moderate (51.6%) and mild (45.2%) relapses are predominant in these young patients. Seventy five percent of patients will not experience a confirmed progression of the expanded disability status scale within 54.7 months from starting the treatment. Furthermore, the results confirm that the first-choice treatment is interferon beta-a and glatiramer acetate, which is common for adult patients. However, some factors, such as a low efficacy or a lack of tolerance may impact on treatment discontinuation in children.

Conclusion: More research should be performed on novel disease-modifying drugs for this target group.

Keywords: disease-modifying drugs; glatiramer acetate; interferon beta-a; pediatric multiple sclerosis; relapsing-remitting form.