Clinical aspects of ALS in Gulf War Veterans.

The increased incidence of ALS in military veterans of the first Persian Gulf War raised speculation that they may have a 'Persian Gulf' variant of ALS with atypical clinical features. Medical records of military veterans with ALS, previously identified in our epidemiological study, were evaluated for clinical features (age and site of onset, race, unexplained atypical findings) and ventilator-free survival. Comparisons between deployed versus non-deployed cohorts were made with deployment status based on designation by the Department of Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) or by self-report. Other than the young age of onset in both cohorts (40.8 years overall mean; 40.1 years for DMDC deployed, 41.2 years for DMDC non-deployed), review of the medical records failed to document any atypical features. After adjusting for bulbar onset, median survival from symptom onset in those >/=40 years of age was 35.5 months (2.96 years) compared to 64.7 months (5.39 years) in the group

Duke Scholars

Author Cynthia Jan Coffman Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics

Author Steven C. Grambow Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics