Changing medical care for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients and cause of death — Review of muscular dystrophy wards (1999–2013)

Abstract

We analyzed the records of inpatients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treated at 27 specialized institutions for muscular dystrophy in Japan from 1999 to 2013 registered in a database on October 1 of each year. The total number of ALS inpatients in 1999 was 29, then that showed rapid increases in 2006 and 2007, and reached 164 in 2013. Age regardless of year was predominantly greater than 50 years. In 1999, the respirator dependent rate was 68.9% and then increased to 92.7% in 2013, while the oral nutritional supply rate was 41.4% in 1999 and decreased to 10.4% in 2013. The number of deaths from 2000 to 2013 was 118. Cause of death was respiratory failure in 26 of 30 patients who maintained voluntary respiration at the time of death and in 5 of 6 with non-invasive ventilation. On the other hand, the main cause of death in patients with tracheostomy invasive ventilation was respiratory infection, which was noted in 26 of 82, while other causes varied. It is expected that the number of ALS patients admitted to specialized institutions with muscular dystrophy wards will continue to increase.