Pediatric Demyelinating Disease Program

Focused on the total health of your child

Demyelinating diseases – like multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune brain diseases –require complex treatment and often lifelong support. We look at the total health of your child, including inpatient and outpatient procedures as well as targeted treatments, including:

• Evaluations

• Immunomodulation (altering or stimulating the immune system to aid in healing)

• Neuropsychological assessment (looking at how the brain responds after disease or trauma)

• Nerve transplants to restore function

• Plasmapheresis (plasma exchange procedure to reduce inflammation)

• Programs in nerve transplant procedure

• Rehabilitation

• School performance evaluations

• Symptom management

• Urological evaluations

• Vision testing

Precise diagnosis for better treatment and condition management

We understand how overwhelming a demyelinating condition can be for your family. When your child comes to the demyelinating diseases program, we will review their past medical history, talk with you and your family about current symptoms and perform a physical exam. We may also perform specific imaging and diagnostic tests as the first step in the process.

These non-invasive exams use advanced technologies, allowing our doctors to accurately assess your child's health, determine a diagnosis and work with you to decide the next step in their treatment journey. We will work with you to decide if your child needs acute care, preventative care or ongoing symptom management. It is our goal to provide the right therapy for your child so they manage their health and participate in normal activities.

Offering comprehensive care and lifelong support for more than a century

For more than 100 years, Children’s Health has put children first. We focus on offering children the finest care, backed by nationally recognized physicians who perform cutting-edge research. We ensure children and their entire support system are treated with compassion.

With our comprehensive demyelinating disease program, you can expect treatment from a coordinated team of experts who understand conditions like multiple sclerosis and transverse myelitis. This team is committed to caring for your child and includes:

• Neurologists

• Neuropsychologists

• Nerve transplants and plastic surgeons

• Ophthalmology technicians

• Physical therapists

• Rehabilitation services

• School liaisons

• Social workers

• Specialty nurses

• Urologists

Our team-based approach puts all the pieces together to optimize care, provide everything you need under one roof and connect the dots for you and your family through ongoing education. We will tailor a care program for your child that considers both medical and surgical issues, so we can provide the highest level of care and best possible outcomes for your child.

Demyelinating disease and multiple sclerosis care from a leading pediatric hospital

You and your child will benefit from the resources and experience of the nation’s eighth-largest pediatric health care provider and a team recognized for their success in providing the best possible care. You can expect better outcomes for your child, access to cutting-edge clinical trials and more information for you as you navigate caring for them and their condition.

In a recent U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” survey, Children’s Health was rated “superior” in several critical categories. This superior rating covers not only best practices, but also shows our commitment to ongoing quality improvement and full-time subspecialist care (providing experts that understand every layer of the condition and their impact on growing children). Our physicians are research pioneers that track outcomes very closely, allowing them to advance the standard of care for our patients.

The Demyelinating Disease Program delivers comprehensive care for diseases that impact the central nervous system. We specialize in treating children who

require both acute (sudden) and chronic (long-lasting) care and are one of only two transverse myelitis Centers of Excellence in the world. We have also been designated a Pediatric Comprehensive Care Center by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. You can be confident that your child will receive the most precise diagnosis and best care possible for their condition.

The Siegel Rare Neuroimmune Association (SRNA) is a not-for-profit international organization dedicated to the support of children, adolescents, and adults with a spectrum of rare neuroimmune disorders. The Centers of Excellence in Rare Neuroimmune Disorders (CERND) designation recognizes medical centers that provide comprehensive care to treating people diagnosed with ADEM, AFM, MOGAD, NMOSD, ON, and TM.

In a demyelinating disease, the myelin sheath that protects the fibers in the central nervous system (brain, optic nerves and spinal cord) is damaged due to an attack on the immune system. When this happens, it causes the nerve impulses to slow down, impacting the body’s function, or even stop, leading to symptoms that include paralysis and sensory loss.