Clinical spectrum and gender differences in a large cohort of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A patients.
BACKGROUND
Heterogeneous clinical presentation and gender differences were reported in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A).


METHODS
This report examined demographic and clinical data collected during a randomised controlled trial, to describe the clinical spectrum of a large and well-defined cohort of CMT1A patients.


RESULTS
Among the 189 symptomatic patients screened, three patients (1.6%) reported first symptoms in the upper limbs, which may be misleading when establishing the clinical diagnosis. The quality of life (QoL) of patients was significantly deteriorated compared to the standard population, and slightly better compared to multiple sclerosis patients. According to the literature, patients reported several disorders which may be associated with CMT1A, including auditory dysfunction (7.9%), Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) (7.9%) or sleep apnoea (4.2%). Compared to available data, we reported more patients with CTS and fewer patients with sleep apnoea. Women were more affected by CTS than men (11% and 2.8%, respectively). Women also reported an earlier onset of symptoms than men (8.6±9.5 years and 13.1±14 years, respectively), higher deterioration of their QoL and higher disability of their upper limb, assessed by Overall Neuropathy Limitation Scale (p=0.023).


CONCLUSIONS
This information will be useful for better understanding of this disease and for designing future clinical studies.
Centre d'Investigation Clinique - Centre de Pharmacologie Clinique et d'Evaluations Thérapeutiques (CIC-CPCET), OrphanDev, CHU La Timone, Marseille, France.
Cécile
C
Colomban
Centre d'Investigation Clinique - Centre de Pharmacologie Clinique et d'Evaluations Thérapeutiques (CIC-CPCET), OrphanDev, CHU La Timone, Marseille, France.
Joëlle
J
Micallef
Centre d'Investigation Clinique - Centre de Pharmacologie Clinique et d'Evaluations Thérapeutiques (CIC-CPCET), OrphanDev, CHU La Timone, Marseille, France.
Marie-Noëlle
MN
Lefebvre
Centre de Référence des Maladies Neuromusculaires de Paris Est, Service d'Exploration Fonctionnelle, Neurologie, Hôpital de la Salpétrière, Paris, France.
Odile
O
Dubourg
Service d'Explorations et Consultations Neurologiques, Groupe Hospitalier Sud, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France.
Pierre-Marie
PM
Gonnaud
Centre de Référence des Maladies Neuromusculaires de Paris Est, Service d'Exploration Fonctionnelle, Neurologie, Hôpital de la Salpétrière, Paris, France.
Tanya
T
Stojkovic
Centre d'Investigation Clinique - Centre de Pharmacologie Clinique et d'Evaluations Thérapeutiques (CIC-CPCET), OrphanDev, CHU La Timone, Marseille, France.
Elisabeth
E
Jouve
Centre d'Investigation Clinique - Centre de Pharmacologie Clinique et d'Evaluations Thérapeutiques (CIC-CPCET), OrphanDev, CHU La Timone, Marseille, France.
Olivier
O
Blin
Centre de Référence des Maladies Neuromusculaires et de la SLA, CHU La Timone, Marseille, France.
Jean
J
Pouget
Centre de Référence des Maladies Neuromusculaires et de la SLA, CHU La Timone, Marseille, France. Electronic address: shahram.attarian@ap-hm.fr.
Shahram
S
Attarian
D000328:Adult; D002607:Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease; Clinical spectrum; Disability; Gender; Hereditary neuropathy; Quality of life