[Multiple sclerosis in Tunisia. Clinical study of 100 cases]

One hundred cases of patients suffering from disseminated sclerosis (52 female and 48 male) were studied clinically and classified into four groups: typical, probable, possible and of acute onset. The present average age was 35.8 years and the age of onset of the disease 31.2 years. The mode of onset was progressive in 48 cases. The signs at onset were motor (44 p. 100), sensory (47 p. 100), ocular or visual (14 p. 100), vestibular (9 p. 100) and cerebellar (9 p. 100). An electronystagmogram was carried out in 74 cases: 44 were irritative in type, 22 deficitary and 8 normal. Electrophoresis of the cerebrospinal fluid revealed an increase in gamma globulins in 47 out of the 62 cases examined. Study of the geographic distribution of the place of birth and residence of the patients showed only a predominance in the northern part of Tunisia, probably related to easier communication from these regions with the Neurology Centre in Tunis.