8 research outputs found

    Friedreich and dominant ataxias: quantitative differences in cerebellar dysfunction measurements

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    BACKGROUND: Sensitive outcome measures for clinical trials on cerebellar ataxias are lacking. Most cerebellar ataxias progress very slowly and quantitative measurements are required to evaluate cerebellar dysfunction. METHODS: We evaluated two scales for rating cerebellar ataxias: the Composite Cerebellar Functional Severity (CCFS) Scale and Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) and controls. We evaluated these scales for different diseases and investigated the factors governing the scores obtained. All patients were recruited prospectively. RESULTS: There were 383 patients with Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), 205 patients with SCA and 168 controls. In FRDA, 31% of the variance of cerebellar signs with the CCFS and 41% of that with SARA were explained by disease duration, age at onset and the shorter abnormal repeat in the FXN gene. Increases in CCFS and SARA scores per year were lower for FRDA than for SCA (CCFS index: 0.123±0.123 per year vs 0.163±0.179, P<0.001; SARA index: 1.5±1.2 vs 1.7±1.7, P<0.001), indicating slower cerebellar dysfunction indexes for FRDA than for SCA. Patients with SCA2 had higher CCFS scores than patients with SCA1 and SCA3, but similar SARA scores. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebellar dysfunction, as measured with the CCFS and SARA scales, was more severe in FRDA than in patients with SCA, but with lower progression indexes, within the limits of these types of indexes. Ceiling effects may occur at late stages, for both scales. The CCFS scale is rater-independent and could be used in a multicentre context, as it is simple, rapid and fully automated. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02069509

    Ketoacidosis at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in French children and adolescents

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    International audienceOBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and its associated factors at the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in French children and adolescents prior to launching a public-health campaign of information to prevent DKA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Over a 1-year period, 1299 youngsters (aged<15 years) were diagnosed with T1D at 146 paediatric centres in all regions of France. Age, gender, duration of symptoms, patient's pathway to diagnosis, clinical and biological signs, and family history of T1D were collected for each newly diagnosed patient. DKA was defined as pH<7.30 or bicarbonate<15mmol/L, and severe DKA as pH<7.10 or bicarbonate<5mmol/L. RESULTS: At the time of diagnosis, 26% of the children were aged 0-5 years, 34% were 5-10 years and 40% were 10-15 years. The overall prevalence of DKA was 43.9% (0-5 years: 54.2%; 5-10 years: 43.4%; and 10-15 years: 37.1%) and 14.8% for severe DKA (0-5 years: 16.6%; 5-10 years: 14.4%; and 10-15 years: 13.9%;<2 years: 25.3%). Severe DKA was more frequent when the child was hospitalized at the family's behest (26.6%) than when referred by a general practitioner (7.6%) or paediatrician (5.1%; 30.6%, 53.7% and 9.2%, respectively, by patients' age group). The frequency of DKA decreased to 20.1% (severe DKA: 4.4%) in families with a history of T1D. Multivariate analysis showed that age, pathway to diagnosis, duration of polyuria/polydipsia (< 1 week) and family history of T1D were associated with the presence of DKA, while pathway to diagnosis and family history of T1D were associated with severe DKA. CONCLUSION: DKA at the time of T1D diagnosis in children and adolescents is frequent and often severe. Patients' age, pathway to hospitalization and family history of diabetes were the main factors associated with DKA. These data suggest that a public-health campaign to prevent DKA at diagnosis can help reduce the frequency of DKA and also provide baseline data for evaluating the efficacy of such a campaign
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