Review of the diagnosis and clinical features of multiple sclerosis in China

Abstract

This review focused on the diagnosis and clinical features of multiple sclerosis (MS) in China. We have identified the published researching information from 1976 to 2008 in China. The key issues related to the diagnosis and clinical features of MS in China were summarized. The first patient with MS in China was reported in 1926 from Xiehe hospital. Case reports on MS has been increasing during recent decades. Almost all the patients with MS were confirmed by the McDonald criteria (1977) before 1984. After the year of 1992, even to this day, the Poser criteria were widely used in China. Although the new diagnostic criteria, McDonald criteria (2001), were presented in 2001, only few papers published in Chinese were reported. The most frequent initial symptoms or signs of the patients with MS were optic nerve, motor weakness and sensory symptoms. The most frequent location of MS lesions over the course was found to be the spinal cord, followed by the cerebrum and optic nerves. Almost all patients had been treated with corticosteroids. This review supported previous observations in Chinese patients with MS. However, further studies are needed to understand epidemiologic features of MS in China.

摘要

本文对中国多发性硬化诊断标准的使用及疾病特征进行综述。收集1976∼2008年期间关于中国多发性硬化疾病研究的文献, 分析其中的诊断信息及临床特征。中国首例多发性硬化患者于1926 年在协和医院诊断之后的几十年, 关于多发性硬化的报道日益增多。1984 年前, 几乎所有患者的诊断均依据McDonald 诊断标准(1977)。1992年后至今, Poser 诊断标准在国内得到了广泛的应用。尽맜2001 年推出新的诊断标准McDonald criteria (2001), 但以该诊断确诊多发性硬化的报道并不多。可见国内在多发性硬化诊断中存在诊断标准滞后的现象。中国多发性硬化患者的首发症状以视神经受累最常见, 其次为肢体无力和感觉障碍。病程中病变最常累及的部位为脊髓, 其次为大脑和视神经。大多数患者均接受过皮质激素的治疗。本文支持了以往关于中国多发性硬化疾病的研究结果。