Under-recognized primary spontaneous pneumothorax in ALS: a multicenter retrospective study.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Pulmonology

Background:

• Primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is common in individuals with risk factors like male gender, smoking, and low BMI.
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a motor neuron disease, shares some risk factors with PSP, suggesting a potential link.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of PSP in patients diagnosed with ALS.
• To identify significant risk factors associated with PSP in the ALS population.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of data from 86 patients with clinically probable or definite ALS across three centers.
• Collection of clinical characteristics including age, sex, BMI, smoking history, and ALSFRS-R scores.
• Multivariate logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of smoking and BMI on PSP occurrence.

Main Results:

• Six out of 86 ALS patients (7%) were diagnosed with PSP.
• No significant differences in clinical characteristics or ALSFRS-R scores were found between patients with and without PSP, except for BMI and smoking history.
• Multivariate analysis indicated a significantly increased odds ratio (19.25) for PSP associated with smoking and BMI.

Conclusions:

• The occurrence of PSP in ALS patients may be under-recognized.
• Low BMI and a history of smoking are identified as significant risk factors for PSP in ALS.
• Further large-scale studies are required to fully understand the prevalence and underlying mechanisms of pneumothorax in ALS.