title: Nerve compression syndromes in ALS: a retrospective analysis in 554 patients.
abstract: We retrospectively screened a large cohort of 554 ALS patients with regard to documented nerve compression syndromes and identified 23 patients, mostly with carpal tunnel syndrome. Patients could be subdivided into three groups. Group A comprised 13 patients in whom nerve compression was apparently confused with early ALS signs. Group B consisted of six patients diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome who had experienced improvement after surgery years before they eventually developed ALS. Group C consisted of four patients who, after diagnosis of ALS, additionally developed a nerve compression syndrome. Altogether, the frequency of true nerve compression syndromes in our ALS cohort (1.8%) was no higher than in the general population (0.3-10.8%). In group A, the initial confusion with a nerve compression syndrome led to a slight though not significant delay (15.2 vs. 12.9 months; p = 0.32) of the diagnosis of ALS. Survival was no different between group A and the cohort. It can also be concluded that the misdiagnoses could have been avoided by thorough electrophysiological examination using a standardized protocol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, Medical School of Hannover, Hannover, Germany. Kollewe.Katja@mh-hannover.de
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kollewe
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koerner
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ilsemann
authors.forename: Bahram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krampfl
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dengler
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies