Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology (Mar 2021)

Type I SMA “new natural history”: long‐term data in nusinersen‐treated patients

  • Marika Pane,
  • Giorgia Coratti,
  • Valeria A. Sansone,
  • Sonia Messina,
  • Michela Catteruccia,
  • Claudio Bruno,
  • Maria Sframeli,
  • Emilio Albamonte,
  • Marina Pedemonte,
  • Adele D’Amico,
  • Chiara Bravetti,
  • Beatrice Berti,
  • Concetta Palermo,
  • Daniela Leone,
  • Giorgia Brigati,
  • Paola Tacchetti,
  • Francesca Salmin,
  • Roberto De Sanctis,
  • Simona Lucibello,
  • Maria Carmela Pera,
  • Marco Piastra,
  • Orazio Genovese,
  • Enrico Bertini,
  • Gianluca Vita,
  • Francesco Danilo Tiziano,
  • Eugenio Mercuri,
  • the Italian EAP Working Group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51276
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 3
pp. 548 – 557

Abstract

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Abstract Objective The aim of this paper was to report the 2‐year follow‐up in type I patients treated with Nusinersen and to assess whether possible changes in motor function are related to the subtype, age, or SMN2 copy number. Methods Sixty‐eight patients, with ages ranging from 0.20 to 15.92 years (mean: 3.96; standard deviation: +3.90) were enrolled in the study. All patients were assessed using the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Infant Test of Neuromuscular Disorders (CHOP INTEND) and the developmental section of the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE‐2) at the time they started treatment and 12 and 24 months after that. Results For both CHOP and HINE‐2 repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant difference (P < 0.001) between baseline and 12 months, 12 months and 24 months, and baseline and 24‐month scores for the whole group. When age subgroups (<210 days, <2 years, 2–4 years, 5–11 years, 12–18 years) were considered, on the CHOP INTEND the difference was significant between baseline and 24 months in all age subgroups. On the HINE‐2, the difference between baseline and 24 months was significant in all the subgroups before the age of 4 years. Age was predictive of changes on both scales (P < 0.05), whereas SMN2 copy number and decimal classification were not. Interpretation Our results suggest that some improvement of motor function can be observed even after the first year of treatment. This is more obvious in the infants treated in the first 2 years but some improvement can also be found in older children.