Plasmapheresis in a child affected by acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

We describe an eight year old girl with acute relapsing disseminated enceph alomyelitis (ADEM) who began to improve concomitantly with plasmapheresis t herapy. The patient had previously undergone high-dose intravenous methylpr ednisolone, intravenous immunoglobulins and Interferon beta-lb treatment wh ich did not control the clinical course of the disease. The long term follo w-up suggests that plasmapheresis is effective in this disorder and may giv e better results than steroids or IVIG. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.