Trial reportJournal of neurology2015
Nerve ultrasound for differentiation between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multifocal motor neuropathy.
Trial report in Journal of neurology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sonographic Evaluation of Peripheral Nerves and Cervical Nerve Roots in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Pooled it
- Diagnostic accuracy and confounders of vagus nerve ultrasound in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-a single-center case series and pooled individual patient data meta-analysis.Journal of neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Repetitive nerve stimulation as a diagnostic aid for distinguishing cervical spondylotic amyotrophy from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2017Trial
- Ultrasound aspects in therapy-naive CIDP compared to long-term treated CIDP.Journal of neurology · 2016Trial
- Association between vagus nerve cross-sectional area measured by ultrasound and inflammatory biomarkers in hospitalised patients with COVID-19.Journal of medical biochemistry · 2026Article
- Neuromuscular ultrasound as a biomarker in the SOD1 mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Multifocal Motor Neuropathy: A Narrative Review.Muscle & nerve · 2025Review
- Characteristics of Neuromuscular Ultrasound in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.Neuro-degenerative diseases · 2025Article
- Nerve ultrasound in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological research and practice · 2024Article
- Neuromuscular ultrasound in combination with nerve conduction studies helps identify inflammatory motor neuropathies from lower motor neuron syndromes.European journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Peripheral Nerve Ultrasound for the Differentiation between ALS, Inflammatory, and Hereditary Polyneuropathies.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- Ultrasonographic evaluation reveals thinning of cervical nerve roots and peripheral nerves in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Article
- Vagus nerve ultrasound in transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy: A pilot study.Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging · 2022Article
- Application and Research Progress of High Frequency Ultrasound in the Diagnosis of Chronic Inflammatory Neuropathies.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Review
- Nerve biopsy: Current indications and decision tools.Muscle & nerve · 2021Review
- One nerve suffices: A clinically guided nerve ultrasound protocol for the differentiation of multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Journal of neurology · 2021Article
- High-Resolution Nerve Ultrasound Abnormalities in POEMS Syndrome-A Comparative Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Nerve Ultrasound as Helpful Tool in Polyneuropathies.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Review Article "Spotlight on Ultrasonography in the Diagnosis of Peripheral Nerve Disease: The Evidence to Date".International journal of general medicine · 2021Review
- Peripheral Nerve Imaging Aids in the Diagnosis of Immune-Mediated Neuropathies-A Case Series.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Ultrasound is useful for non-invasive visualization of focal nerve pathologies probably resulting from demyelination, remyelination, edema or inflammation. In patients with progressive muscle weakness, differentiation between multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is essential regarding therapy and prognosis. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate whether nerve ultrasound can differentiate between ALS and MMN. Systematic ultrasound measurements of peripheral nerves and the 6th cervical nerve root (C6) were performed in 17 patients with ALS, in 8 patients with MMN and in 28 healthy controls. Nerve conduction studies of corresponding nerves were undertaken in MMN and ALS patients. Electromyography was performed in ALS patients according to revised El-Escorial criteria. ANOVA and unpaired t test with Bonferroni correction revealed significant differences in cross-sectional areas (CSA) of different nerves and C6 diameter between the groups. Nerve enlargement was found significantly more frequently in MMN than in other groups (p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristics analysis revealed detection of enlarged nerves/roots in at least four measurement points to serve as a good marker to differentiate MMN from ALS with a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 94.1%. Ultrasonic focal nerve enlargement in MMN was often not colocalized with areas of conduction blocks found in nerve conduction studies. Systematic ultrasound measurements in different nerves and nerve roots are valuable for detecting focal nerve enlargement in MMN, generally not found in ALS and thus could serve as a diagnostic marker to differentiate between both entities in addition to electrodiagnostic studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.