Are we really closer to improving the diagnostic sensitivity in ALS patients with Awaji criteria?

Abstract The Awaji criteria, recently introduced to increase diagnosis sensitivity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), equate the diagnostic significance of neurogenic electrophysiological changes to clinical signs of lower motor neuron dysfunction. They also increase the electrophysiological si...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal degeneration 2014-06, Vol.15 (3-4), p.257-261
Main Authors: Gawel, Malgorzata, Kuzma-Kozakiewicz, Magdalena, Szmidt-Salkowska, Elzbieta, Kami ska, Anna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - diagnosis
clinical trials
Electrodiagnosis - methods
Electrodiagnosis - standards
Electromyography
EMG
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Muscle, Skeletal - innervation
Muscle, Skeletal - physiopathology
Neurologic Examination
neurophysiology
Retrospective Studies
Sensitivity and Specificity
Severity of Illness Index
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract The Awaji criteria, recently introduced to increase diagnosis sensitivity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), equate the diagnostic significance of neurogenic electrophysiological changes to clinical signs of lower motor neuron dysfunction. They also increase the electrophysiological significance of fasciculation potentials (FPs). The aim of our study was to analyse whether the new parameters improve diagnostic sensitivity in ALS patients primarily diagnosed with the El Escorial criteria. Medical and electrophysiological records of 135 consecutive patients with ALS and 25 patients with progressive muscular atrophy (PMA) who underwent electrophysiological examination of at least three anatomical regions were analysed retrospectively. Results showed that implementation of the Awaji criteria increased the level of ALS diagnosis sensitivity in 5.9% of cases - 1.5% due to the new role of FPs potentials and 4.4% because of equalization of clinical and EMG findings. In 4% of patients the ALS diagnosis was, however, changed from laboratory-supported probable ALS to possible ALS. In conclusion, our study confirms that Awaji modifications are able to improve the diagnostic certainty in a few ALS cases. Although the new approach to FPs markedly increases the number of involved muscles, it only slightly raises the number of involved regions.
ISSN:2167-8421
2167-9223
DOI:10.3109/21678421.2014.887118