Prognostic Usefulness of Motor Unit Number Index (MUNIX) in Patients Newly Diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

ABSTRACT: The MUNIX technique allows us to estimate the number and size of surviving motor units (MUs). Previous studies on ALS found correlations between MUNIX and several clinical measures, but its potential role as a predictor of disease progression rate (DPR) has not been thoroughly evaluated to date. We aimed to investigate MUNIX's ability to predict DPR at a six-month follow up.

Methods

24 ALS patients with short disease duration (<24 months from symptoms' onset) were enrolled and divided according to their baseline DPR into two groups (normal [DPR-N] and fast [DPR-F] progressors). MUNIX values were obtained from five muscles (TA, APB, ADM, FDI, Trapezius) and averaged for each subject.

Results

MUNIX was found to predict DPR at follow up in a multivariable linear regression model

SUBMITTER: Risi B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10420094 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature