Recurrent disseminated encephalomyelitis: A case report and literature review

Abstract Background Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis has been understood as a monophasic, often post-infectious illness that predominantly affects the pediatric population. Though that describes the majority of cases, exceptions do exist. In this case report, we present an adult case of recurrent disseminated encephalomyelitis (DEM) and review the available literature on this clinical entity. Methods PubMed search performed using the terms "MDEM" and "Recurrent ADEM" in April 2018. A total of 23 items resulted for the first search and another 142 for the second. We selected articles that described cases of recurrent ADEM with a preference for those publications describing adult cases and those written in English language. Conclusion Recurrent disseminated encephalomyelitis is a distinct clinical entity that has features which overlap with multiple sclerosis, making it imperative to distinguish the two. Our case presentation and accompanying literature review highlights the limited scope of data available on recurrent DEM and the need for further study.