Incidence of erythromelalgia: a population-based study in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the population-based incidence of erythromelalgia. Background Only one report describing the incidence of erythromelalgia has been published previously. STUDY DESIGN: A population-based analysis of data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project. SETTING: Tertiary care medical centre in Olmsted County, Minnesota (a rural county in the south-eastern portion of the state). PATIENTS Thirty-three residents of Olmsted County with a diagnosis of erythromelalgia during the study period. METHODS: Age- and sex-specific incidence rates of erythromelalgia were determined. INTERVENTION None. MAIN OUTCOME: Population-based incidence rate. RESULTS: The overall age- and sex-adjusted incidence rate (95% confidence interval, 95% CI) was 1.3 (0.8-1.7) per 100,000 people per year. The incidence of primary and secondary erythromelalgia was 1.1 (0.7-1.5) and 0.2 (0.02-0.4) per 100,000 people per year, respectively. The age-adjusted incidence rates (95% CI) were 2.0 (1.2-2.7) per 100,000 women and 0.6 (0.1-1.1) per 100,000 men. The study was limited by the small sample size and potential variability in recognition of erythromelalgia. CONCLUSION: The population-based incidence of erythromelalgia has increased with each decade in Olmsted County over the past three decades; overall incidence was 1.3 per 100,000 people per year, approximately 5 times higher than previously reported.