Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a study of systemic complications in autopsy cases in Japan

In a retrospective study involving 277 autopsy cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which had been published in the Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan, an investigation was made of concurrent visceral lesions. The results indicated that complications involving the digestive organs, urinary tract and supportive connective tissues were less frequent in ALS than in patients with degenerative diseases of the central nervous system who served as controls. Since a similar discrepancy was observed between patients with ALS and with encephalitis, it was postulated that the difference in incidences might not be simply explained by differences in patients' ages and the duration of illness.