RESUMO
Objective To analyze the clinical features of 35 cases of Kennedy's disease and the correlation be?tween clinical features and CAG repeat size to strengthen the understanding of KD and to avoid misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis.Methods Clinical data, including clinical signs and symptoms ,serum lipid, serum sex hormone level, electro?myography, the number of CAGs and (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis muscular atrophy,ALS) rating scale were collected from 35 patients genetically diagnosed of Kennedy disease and proceed system analysis. Results Patients with KD were adult onset with the average age of (40.77 ± 8.57) years and the average confirmed course were (8.32 ± 4.17) years. Forty-two point nine percent of the patients had family history. Clinical features included medulla oblongata and spinal muscular atrophy and weakness, limbs tremor, perioral muscles twitch and endocrine function and metabolic disorders in some cases. Creatine kinase, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein, follicle estrogen and prolactin were significantly in?creased compared to healthy adults (P:0.000,0.018,0.000,0.000,0.003). The number of CAG repeat was negatively correlated with the onset age (r=-0.549, P=0.001) but not associated with the illness severity (ALS rating scale) (r=0.001, P=0.998). ALS score was negatively correlated with course of disease(r=-0.540, P=0.001).Conclusions Chinese KD pa? tients share similar clinical phenotypes with those of other races but exhibit slightly different clinical characteristics. The length of the CAG repeat influences age at onset but not the severity of disease. Severity of disease is related to the course of disease.
RESUMO
Objective To describe the clinical features, differential diagnosis and therapeutic method of Madras motor neuron disease (MMND) to improve the understanding of MMND. Methods We retrospectively summarized the clinical data of 3 MMND patients. and conducted the related literature review to compare the similarities and differences on clinical features between our cases and foreign MMND patients. Results Patients in the present study were adult-on?set without definite family history. The main manifestations were multiple lower cranial nerve palsies along with weakness and wasting of proximal limbs. Bifacial palsy and dysarthria were most presented in patients, while definite hearing im?pairment was rarely seen. Two patients had fasciculation and atrophy in tongue and one presented with dysphagia. Weak?ness and atrophy were more frequently presented in upper extremities than in lower limbs. All patients had signs of upper motor neuron damage. The level of creatine kinase (CK) moderately increased in one case. Electromyography (EMG) de?tected a widespread neuronal damage in all patients. MMND should be differentiated from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Kennedy Disease and Brown–Vialetto–van Laere Syndrome. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy showed effective in some cases to some extent. Compare to foreign MMND patients, bifacial weakness at onset was more frequently presented in our patients, but hearing impairment was absent. Conclusion The clinical features of MMND include weakness and at?rophy of limbs, involvement of facial and bulbar muscles, pyramidal dysfunction and hearing impairment. Some clinical manifestations of our patients are different from foreign MMND patient.