A General Assessment of the Functional Impact of Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis

Abstract

Introduction: Long-term disability in patients with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is caused not only by neurological deficiency, but also by the difficulties with social and psychological adaptation. Together with neurological condition, a very important role in clinical characteristics of the disease belongs to psychosocial disorders, as well as to patients' subjective perception of the disease symptoms that has the impact on their quality of life. Methods: We have examined 45 patients diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, 10 men and 35 women, aged 15-53 (average age 32±0.4). All the patients were being treated at the Kiev city centre of multiple sclerosis (Kiev city hospital number 4, Alexandrovskaya City Clinical Hospital, Kiev city, Ukraine) during 3 years. The diagnosis of ADEM was based on neurological examination, MRI of the brain and CSF analysis. The neurological status was assessed by Kurtzke an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and Functional Systems Points