Episode 169: A Clinical Guide to Diagnosing and Managing ADEM

Episode 169 of the NeurologyLive^® Mind Moments^® podcast is now live! Scroll down to listen or click here to subscribe on your favorite streaming service.

The Mind Moments podcast features exclusive interviews with leaders in the field discussing the latest research and disease management strategies across the breadth of neurology, including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson disease, dementia, sleep disorders, and more.

In this Mind Moments episode, Grace Gombolay, MD, associate professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Pediatric Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, joins Varun Kannan, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics in the Department of Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, for a discussion on acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a rare inflammatory demyelinating syndrome that remains an important diagnostic consideration in pediatric neuroimmunology. The conversation provides a practical overview of how clinicians should recognize ADEM, distinguish it from conditions such as multiple sclerosis, MOG antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), and approach treatment in the absence of FDA-approved therapies.

Gombolay and Kannan review the clinical and radiographic hallmarks of ADEM, the role of MRI and antibody testing in the diagnostic workup, and current treatment strategies involving corticosteroids, IVIG, and plasma exchange. They also discuss long-term outcomes, the evolving relationship between ADEM and MOGAD, emerging biomarkers such as neurofilament light chain and cytokine profiling, and common misconceptions that can complicate diagnosis and management in clinical practice.

The stories featured in this week’s Neurology News Minute, which will give you quick updates on the following developments in neurology, are further detailed here:

• FDA Allows AMT-130 Huntington Disease Data to Support Planned BLA Submission Under Accelerated Approval Pathway
• Teva Submits NDA for Ecopipam, Potential First New Tourette Syndrome Treatment in Over a Decade
• FDA and EMA Accepts Regulatory Applications for Cemdisiran in Generalized Myasthenia Gravis

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

• 1:15 – Recognizing the clinical and imaging features of ADEM
• 3:30 – Distinguishing ADEM from MS, MOGAD, and NMOSD
• 7:20 – Current treatment approaches and management strategies
• 10:10 – Neurology News Network 
• 12:40 – Long-term outcomes and monitoring after recovery
• 15:55 – Emerging biomarkers and improving diagnostic precision
• 19:10 – Preventing future attacks and reducing relapse risk
• 21:10 – Remaining research gaps and unanswered questions in ADEM

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