Overview of nomenclature and diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The nomenclature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) currently is blurred, indistinct and no accurate and haven't been properly updated since the first description, which is far from being suitable for the current implementation of clinical practise and scientific research of ALS, and urgently need an solution. Furthermore, the current diagnostic criteria need also further been improved, because the current clinical diagnosis of ALS majorly depends on the clinical manifestations yet. Up to now, no any objective clinical auxiliary examination can be helpful to diagnose ALS besides the electromyogram identifying the lower motor neuron damage, which isn't conducive to early diagnosis and prolongs the time of ALS confirmed diagnosis. In this mini review, we discussed the current doubt about the nomenclature and diagnostic criteria of ALS, and prospected in order to further improve and normalize the nomenclature and diagnosis of ALS.