[Symptomatology in 162 patients with spasmophilia (chronic idiopathic or constitutional tetany). A statistical...

A computer was used for a statistical analysis of the results of treatment in 162 patients (130 women and 32 men with an average age of 29 years), with chronic idiopathic tetany. Symptoms leading to diagnosis were mainly feelings of ill-health (27.2 %), motor disorders (19.7 %), and sensory problems (19.1 %). The onset of acute attacks is related, more especially, to psychogenic factors. The frequency of the various clinical manifestations, and their symptomatic grouping were analyzed. The clinical profile is similar in both sexes apart from 7 of the 89 items: lipothymia, abnormal feelings of warmth, pseudo-contraction of the larynx, abnormalities of the exoskeleton, and digestive disorders are more frequent in women, while precordalgia is more often present in men. Factorial analysis of correspondence between 38 variables reveals a very large dispersion of the variables, as the first three factors, which are the most significant, supply only 30% of the total information. Furthermore, very few variables share significant relationships in each factor. In spite of the amount of information collected, this dispersion of the symptomatology does not permit the definition of one or more profile-types of spasmophilia.