[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: an analysis of 167 cases]

167 cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treated in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were analyzed. There was a significant difference between some of the clinical features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in China and western countries. The age of onset in China was 10 to 20 years earlier than and the male to female ratio (4.6:1) was 2 times higher than those in the west. Average age of death was 47 years, being earlier than that in the west. Some specific clinical features for early clinical diagnosis were also discussed.