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Childhood hereditary ataxias: experience from a tertiary referral university hospital in Turkey

Childhood hereditary ataxias: experience from a tertiary referral university hospital in Turkey Hereditary ataxias are a group of genetic disorders that are progressive and heterogeneous. The purpose of this study was to develop a practical and time-efficient approach to diagnosing childhood hereditary ataxias by analyzing characteristics and final diagnosis at a tertiary referral clinic for pediatric neurology. 196 patients admitted to the pediatric neurology department were included. The medical records were examined for demographic features, neurological, laboratory, electrophysiological, cranial imaging, and pathological findings, and for genetic studies. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether a final diagnosis was made. The undiagnosed and diagnosed groups consisted of 157 (81.1%) and 39 (19.9%) patients, respectively. The two groups differed in terms of levels of history of consanguineous marriage and mental and motor development before diagnosis, absence of deep tendon reflexes, and the presence of polyneuropathic changes detected by electromyelography (EMG), abnormal visual evoked potentials (VEPs), electroretinography (ERG), and muscle biopsy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study involving a large spectrum of diseases related to autosomal recessive ataxias in childhood in Turkey. One out of five patients with hereditary childhood ataxias can be diagnosed with clinical and laboratory and electrodiagnostic examination, especially with the help of imaging facilities, while genetic analysis is not possible for every child. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging followed by EMG provides the most important clues for the diagnosis of hereditary childhood ataxias. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Acta Neurologica Belgica Springer Journals

Childhood hereditary ataxias: experience from a tertiary referral university hospital in Turkey

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References (37)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Belgian Neurological Society
Subject
Biomedicine; Neurosciences; Neurology; Neuroradiology; Medicine/Public Health, general
ISSN
0300-9009
eISSN
2240-2993
DOI
10.1007/s13760-017-0786-7
pmid
28456889
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Hereditary ataxias are a group of genetic disorders that are progressive and heterogeneous. The purpose of this study was to develop a practical and time-efficient approach to diagnosing childhood hereditary ataxias by analyzing characteristics and final diagnosis at a tertiary referral clinic for pediatric neurology. 196 patients admitted to the pediatric neurology department were included. The medical records were examined for demographic features, neurological, laboratory, electrophysiological, cranial imaging, and pathological findings, and for genetic studies. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether a final diagnosis was made. The undiagnosed and diagnosed groups consisted of 157 (81.1%) and 39 (19.9%) patients, respectively. The two groups differed in terms of levels of history of consanguineous marriage and mental and motor development before diagnosis, absence of deep tendon reflexes, and the presence of polyneuropathic changes detected by electromyelography (EMG), abnormal visual evoked potentials (VEPs), electroretinography (ERG), and muscle biopsy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study involving a large spectrum of diseases related to autosomal recessive ataxias in childhood in Turkey. One out of five patients with hereditary childhood ataxias can be diagnosed with clinical and laboratory and electrodiagnostic examination, especially with the help of imaging facilities, while genetic analysis is not possible for every child. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging followed by EMG provides the most important clues for the diagnosis of hereditary childhood ataxias.

Journal

Acta Neurologica Belgica – Springer Journals

Published: Apr 29, 2017

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