Recent advance in role of high-frequency ultrasonography in diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis / 中华神经医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neuromuscular disease,involving the upper and lower motor neurons.It is characterized by muscle weakness,atrophy,speaking and swallowing dysfunction,and eventually leading to respiratory failure and death.The early diagnosis of ALS is difficult,because of the diversity of clinical manifestations and complex process.However,the early diagnosis of ALS is very important for patients to reduce unnecessary medical expenses and to improve the quality of life.At present,the diagnosis of ALS mainly relies on electromyography and clinical manifestations;however,EMG is a kind of invasive examination and cannot check more parts of the muscles at the same time.Therefore,we mainly discuss the diagnosis of ALS in another auxiliary method-high-frequency ultrasonography.