Bp. Brooks, Problems in shortening the time to confirmation of ALS diagnosis: lessons from the 1st Consensus Conference, Chicago, May 1998, AMYOTROPH L, 1, 2000, pp. S3-S7
Citations number
8
Categorie Soggetti
Neurology
Journal title
AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS AND OTHER MOTOR NEURON DISORDERS
The 2nd Consensus Conference (Versailles) on the early diagnosis of amyotro
phic lateral sclerosis (ALS) developed themes identified at the 1st Consens
us Conference (Chicago) on defining optimal management in ALS. These themes
included describing the problems and limitations in current diagnostic pra
ctices, identifying consequences of early diagnosis on patient management,
establishing recommendations to help healthcare personnel achieve the early
diagnosis and proposing solutions to facilitate early diagnosis of ALs. Le
ssons from the ISIS Survey and the ist Consensus Conference focused on the:
variability of the: first-contact physician, supply factors for specialist
s and variability of application of medical techniques. The recently introd
uced concept of 'ALS health states or stages' was reviewed in terms of ongo
ing and potential prospective studies. The relative contribution of neuroim
aging or clinical neurophysiological investigations to accelerating the dia
gnosis of ALS in clinical practice was debated. The role of a common ALS kn
owledge-base among patients, initial healthcare providers, diagnosing neuro
logists and confirming neurologists was critically appraised with regard to
simplified 'ALs diagnostic algorithm', 'ten aphorisms in the diagnosis of
ALS' and 'ALS axioms of referral'. Refining this ALS knowledge-base is requ
ired to identify a minimum dataset required for the evaluation and diagnosi
s of ALS.