Authors : Fatemeh Mahjoub , Soodeh Nili Ardakani , Mahmoudreza Ashrafi , Maryam Monajemzadeh , Mahmoud Mohammadi , Abolfazl Nasirian , Gholamreza Zamani and Zahra Omidi
Abstract: A prospective study of the neuromuscular diseases in Iranian children was conducted from 2000-2007 in Markaze Tebbi Koodakan, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Similar data are scanty outside Europe and North America. This study attempts to determine the type and relative frequency of neuromuscular diseases in Iran. One hundred and sixty five children (<or = 16 years) were assigned to an entity of neuromuscular disease following review of the clinical, biochemical and neurophysiological data and after review of most of available patients records. The common muscle diseases in Iran were muscular dystrophy (47.3%), peripheral neuropathy (17%) and inflammatory myopathy (7.9%). Motor neuron disease was seen in 1.8% of cases. Of the muscular dystrophies, Duchene type (6.1%) was more prevalent. History of consanguinity was present in 56%. Positive family history was seen in 15% of cases. However, 30 (18.2%) cases showed no significant pathology. For this group of neuromuscular diseases further studies are needed. The study has revealed a great variety of pathology affecting children presenting with neuromuscular symptoms. The most prevalent of these were muscular dystrophies which is concordant with most other studies. The high frequency of consanguineous marriage in our cases needs further attention for social programming.
Fatemeh Mahjoub , Soodeh Nili Ardakani , Mahmoudreza Ashrafi , Maryam Monajemzadeh , Mahmoud Mohammadi , Abolfazl Nasirian , Gholamreza Zamani and Zahra Omidi , 2008. Neuromuscular Disease in Childhood, a Clinicopathological Study in Iran. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 1403-1407.