Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) a monophasic autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that occurs after a febrile infection or vaccination. Typically, ADEM manifests as multifocal high T2WI/ FLAIR signal lesions mimicking multiple sclerosis (MS). However, clinical and radiological findings may help in the differential. Patients with ADEM typically have at least two of the three following
- They have symptoms not matching for MS: altered consciousness, hypersomnia, seizures, cognitive impairment, hemiplegia, quadriparesis, aphasia, or bilateral optic neuritis.
- They have no oligoclonal bands in cerebrospinal fluid sample.
- They involve the gray matter (basal ganglia or cortical lesions); corpus callosal involvement is less frequent in patients with ADEM than in those with MS.