Review Article Diagnostic Considerations in Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis and the Interface with MOG Antibody Jonathan D. Santoro1,2,3,4 Tanuja Chitnis1,2 1 Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Address for correspondence Jonathan D. Santoro, MD, Department of Massachusetts, United States Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, ACC 708, 2 Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Boston, MA 02114, United States (e-mail:
[email protected]). Massachusetts, United States 3 Department of Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States 4 Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States Neuropediatrics Abstract Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a common yet clinically heterogenous syndrome characterized by encephalopathy, focal neurologic findings, and abnormal Keywords neuroimaging. Differentiating ADEM from other demyelinating disorders of childhood ► ADEM can be difficult and appropriate interpretation of the historical, clinical, and neurodiag- ► acute disseminated nostic components of a patient’s presentation is critical. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycopro- encephalomyelitis tein (MOG) antibody-associated diseases are a recently recognized set of disorders, which ► diagnosis include ADEM presentations, among other phenotypes. This review article discusses the ► treatment clinical diagnosis, differential diagnosis, interpretation of data, and treatment/prognosis of ► MOG antibody this unique syndrome with distinctive review of the spectrum of MOG antibodies. Introduction activated T cells recruits additional immune cells to the CNS leading to primary injury of white matter.7 Although more Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an immune- nuanced than described, for the scope of this review, the mediated disorder of the central nervous system (CNS), affect- authors will focus on the clinical aspects of the disease and ing both children and adults.