Familial clustering of multiple sclerosis in a northern Swedish rural district.
A small rural district in the most northerly province of Sweden was found to have a very high occurrence of multiple sclerosis. A total of 12 patients with multiple sclerosis among 4744 inhabitants were identified (five females, seven males), corresponding to a prevalence of 253/100,000. Many of the patients were related and a further 21 cases with multiple sclerosis (14 females, seven males), mostly living in the neighbouring area, have family ties to the district. A genealogical investigation showed that 22 of the 33 patients identified had ties of kinship and thus, to our knowledge, the largest aggregation of multiple sclerosis in a family is presented.
Binzer
M
M
Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden.
Forsgren
L
L
Holmgren
G
G
Drugge
U
U
Fredrikson
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D010375:Pedigree; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology