Twenty year Experience of the Neuromuscular Unit of Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University Thesis

Abstract

Neuromuscular diseases (NMD) represent a heterogeneous group of disorders, including motor neuron diseases, disorders of motor nerve roots or peripheral nerves, neuromuscular transmission disorders and muscle diseases

This study is a retrospective descriptive study carried on neuromuscular disorders patients who were recruited from neuromuscular unit Ain Shams University hospitals from the period of 1995 till 2016 to describe different neuromuscular disorders presented to us and its different socio-demographic pattern. The total number of our study population was 502 patients; 323 patients are males (64.3%) and 179 female patients (35.7%) with ratio of 1.8: 1 in our clinic We found that the largest number of patients was resident in Cairo and its surrounding governates (49.2%), While 150 patients came from Lower Egypt who represent (33.71%) we noticed low number of patients came from Upper Egypt (13.03%), of interest we found 18 patients presented to our unit from other Arabian countries represent (4.04%). We found family history of consanguineous marriage in 57.71% of the studied patients supported by high consanguineous marriage in other Arab countries and North Africa reports. In addition to, presence of similar conditions in patients families. Which in turn contribute to transmission of hereditary diseases through following generations. Our study showed muscular dystrophies the most common neuromuscular disorders presented to our neuromuscular unit reaching 52.5% of diagnosed patients While estimated prevellance of other NMD in congenital myopathy (5.79%), inflammatory myopathy (8.88%), metabolic myopathy (1.86%), mitochondrial myopathy (9.7%), SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) (3.1%), MND (motor neuron disease) (1.0%), myotonia (1.2%), myoneural junction (1.24%), neuropathy (2.7%) and others (2.7%).