Epidemiology of paraneoplastic neurological...
Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes are rare. Their rarity makes it difficult to collect large groups of patients in individual centers that would allow carrying out extensive epidemiological studies. Instead, most patients are referred to third-level neuroimmunology institutions, for antibody testing and experimental studies. Moreover, in the last decade, the number of validated antibody markers of PNS and other immune-mediated neurological syndromes has increased dramatically. For all these reasons, there is no study to date examining the incidence of PNS at a population level. Awareness of the epidemiology of PNS is essential for allocation of health-care resources and development of an adequate response. The diagnostic criteria for PNS and their subcategories published in 2004 are utilized in this study.
Herein, they describe the incidence, prevalence, clinical features, oncologic associations and antibody profile of PNS in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Italy.
