Prognosis & Management

The prognosis for most children with ADEM is good. The recovery is usually a slow process lasting from four to six weeks and the majority of children with ADEM make a full recovery. Between 60 to 90 percent are left with no neurological deficits. Those children who do have residual symptoms are reported to have symptoms from transverse myelitis (the spinal cord inflammatory attack), recurrent headaches, and behavioral problems. The location of lesions and the extent of inflammatory lesions do not appear to have any predictive value in regard to outcome. Typically, follow-up MRIs show complete or partial resolution of abnormalities in the majority of ADEM cases.