Respiratory Needs in Patients with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy Treated with Nusinersen

To evaluate the effects of nusinersen on respiratory function of patients with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy.

Observational, longitudinal cohort study. We collected respiratory data from 118 children with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy and differing pulmonary requirements and conducted a semistructured qualitative interview among a subsample of caregivers at baseline, 6 months, and 10 months after the first nusinersen treatment. Patients were stratified according to ventilation modalities and age at study entry.

Most patients in our cohort remained stable (84/109 = 77%). More than 80% of the children treated before age 2 years survived, in contrast to the lower survival reported in natural history studies, and did so without tracheostomy or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) ≥16 hours. In those less than 2 years old, only 3 patients shifted from NIV ≤10 hours to NIV >10 hours, and the other 3 reduced the hours of NIV required. Most of the older patients remained stable; this included not only those on tracheostomy or NIV >10 hours but also 75% of those on NIV ≤10 hours.

Our results suggest that nusinersen may produce some improvement in the progression of respiratory impairment, both in terms of survival and need for respiratory support ≥16 hours, especially before the age of 2 years.