We present literature review and our own data concerning diagnostic and therapeutic use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in children and adult patients with a wide spectrum of neurologic disorders. TMS may be used for direct, safety and non-invasive evaluation of conduction along central and peripheral motor pathways; it way be implemented for neuroplasticity activation. In clinical practice diagnostic TMS is the most effective tool for prognosis of movement recovery in spinal (trauma, myelitis) and hemispheric (stroke, palsy) disturbances. TMS may stimulate or inhibit nervous system depending on used therapeutic regime. TMS induces neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, rhythmic TMS also may cause long-lasting effects. We discuss comparative efficacy of low-and high-frequency TMS in different syndromes and diseases. TMS is mostly used in patients with stroke and infantile cerebral palsy, but clinical efficacy of TMS in encephalitis is practically unstudied. TMS is a valuable diagnostic and therapeutic tool that should be more often implemented in neurorehabilitation of adults and children. Despite vast amount of researches, there are no sufficient data on comparative efficacy of low- or high-frequency TMS in different forms of neurologic disease; this may be the purpose of future clinical researches.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate somatosensory and motor pathways condition in the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) in children. Methods. Twenty (20) healthy children and 29 patients with ADEM (n=14) and MS (n=15) were enrolled into the study. All patients were examined by neurologist. They also passed brain MRI and CSF analysis (oligoclonal bands test), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) examination.Results. In children with MS we revealed significant asymmetry of the conduction along the motor pathways on the spinal level, delay of conduction along somatosensory pathways on the spinal level and low functional state of somatosensory cortex neurons. Conclusions. The revealed differences may be caused by more severe spinal lesion at early stages of MS than in ADEM. The predominant SSEP abnormalities compared with TMS alteration indicate the sensibility of somatosensory pathways and sensory system at early stage of MS. SSEP and TMS may be recommended as standard methods of differential diagnosis of ADEM and MS in children.