The COVID-19 pandemic has posed multiple significant challenges to healthcare systems. Preparations for the expected rise in COVID-19positive patients in March-April 2020 resulted in 6 out of 12 wards at University College Hospital in London being converted into COVID-19 wards. Many healthcare professionals, including paediatric nurses and neurosurgeons, were redeployed to ensure that wards were sufficiently staffed. The uncertainty of new roles, unfamiliar teams, personal risk and rapidly evolving guidelines led to significant anxiety about redeployment. To address this anxiety and prepare staff for working on the reconfigured wards, we designed a series of half-day clinical simulation sessions accessible to all healthcare professionals and evaluated their impact on participants' confidence.

Considerable progress has been made in the understanding and treatment of paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS); how this has translated into more effective care is less well understood. Here, we evaluate how recent advances have affected patient management and outcomes with a retrospective review of POMS patients managed at two paediatric neuroimmunology centres. Two cohorts, seen within a decade, were compared to investigate associations between management approaches and outcomes. Demographic, clinical and neurocognitive data were extracted from case notes and analysed. Of 51 patients, 24 were seen during the period 2007–2010 and 27 during the period 2015–2016. Median age at onset was 13.7 years; time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 9 months. Disease-modifying therapies were commenced in 19 earlier-cohort and 24 later-cohort patients. Median time from diagnosis to treatment was 9 months for earlier vs. 3.5 months in later patients (p = 0.013). A wider variety of treatments were used in the later cohort (four medications earlier vs. seven in the later and two clinical trials), with increased quality of life and neurocognitive monitoring (8% vs. 48% completed PedsQL quality of life inventory; 58% vs. 89% completed neurocognitive assessment). In both cohorts, patients were responsive to disease-modifying therapy (mean annualised relapse rate pre-treatment 2.7 vs. 1.7, mean post-treatment 0.74 vs. 0.37 in earlier vs. later cohorts). In conclusion, over the years, POMS patients were treated sooner with a wider variety of medications and monitored more comprehensively. However, this hugely uncontrolled cohort did not allow us to identify key determinants for the improvements observed.

Acute myelopathy presenting in childhood can be clinically classified based on the location of injury (with resulting spinal syndrome) or the cause (broadly traumatic or non-traumatic). Types of nontraumatic myelopathy include ischaemic, infectious, inflammatory, nutritional, and metabolic causes, some of which may be part of a systemic illness such as systemic lupus erythematosus or a demyelinating disease such as multiple sclerosis. Nonaccidental injury is an important consideration in cases of traumatic myelopathy, which may often be associated with other injuries. Assessment should include neuroimaging of the brain and spinal cord, with further investigations targeted based on the most likely differential diagnoses; for example, a child with suspected demyelinating disease may require specialist cerebrospinal fluid and serological testing. Management also will differ based on the cause of the myelopathy, with several of these treatments more efficacious with earlier initiation, necessitating prompt recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of children presenting with symptoms of a myelopathy. Important components of holistic care may include physiotherapy and occupational therapy, with multidisciplinary team involvement as required (for example psychological support or specialist bowel and bladder teams).

There are several important relapsing demyelinating syndromes (RDS) that may present in childhood, of which paediatric-onset multiple sclerosis is the most common. These are rare conditions, so recognising presentations and referring early to specialist services is important to enable prompt diagnosis and effective treatment. Understanding of RDS is rapidly evolving, with many new and effective treatments that aim to reduce relapses and disability accumulation. A holistic and child-focused approach to management is key to supporting patients and families, with thought given to early detection of cognitive and psychological issues to provide appropriate support.