Pediatric Acquired Demyelinating Syndrome (ADS)—A Proposed Flowchart for Imaging Diagnosis

Abstract

Pediatric acquired demyelinating syndromes (ADS) consists of a group of neuroinflammatory disorders, which include monophasic acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, aquaporin-4 antibody-associated neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease, and seronegative ADS. Various advances have been made in understanding their pathology, clinical, and imaging features for providing timely and precise diagnosis to ensure appropriate patient management. Imaging serves as an important tool in not only for diagnosis of demyelination but also helps in distinguishing them. In this case series, the authors have tried to assess distinctive imaging features of these disorders and arrive at an algorithmic approach for the diagnosis of various pediatric demyelinating disorders.