Clinical course and prognosis of 27 patients with childhood onset multiple sclerosis in Japan.

To investigate whether outcomes of childhood onset multiple sclerosis (MS) have changed or not, the clinical courses of childhood onset MS in 27 patients at our hospital and those reported by Fukuyama in 1991 were compared. The ratios of our patients with poor prognosis in walking and vision were decreased. Widespread use of high-dose corticosteroid therapy and interferon therapy may be one cause of the low frequency of severe sequelae in our study.