Global epidemiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A systematic review of the published literature

Neuroepidemiology

Volumn 41, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 118-130

  Chio A ^a   Logroscino, G ^b   Traynor, B J ^c   Collins, J ^d   Simeone, J C ^d   Goldstein, L A ^e   White, L A ^f  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TURIN   (Italy)

^b UNIVERSITY OF BARI   (Italy)

^c NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING   (United States)

^d UNITED BIOSOURCE CORPORATION   (United States)

^e United BioSource Corporation Envision Group   (United States)

^f BIOGEN   (United States)

Author keywords

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Case ascertainment; Demographics; Diagnostic criteria; Epidemiology; Incidence; Prevalence; Temporal and age related trends

Indexed keywords

AGE DISTRIBUTION; AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS; ASIA; CANADA; CHINA; ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR; ESTONIA; EUROPE; FAROE ISLANDS; FRANCE; GENETIC PREDISPOSITION; GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION; HEALTH DISPARITY; HUMAN; INCIDENCE; IRELAND; ITALY; JAPAN; NETHERLANDS; NEW ZEALAND; NORTH AMERICA; NORWAY; PREVALENCE; REVIEW; SOUTH AMERICA; SWITZERLAND; SYSTEMATIC REVIEW; UNITED KINGDOM; UNITED STATES; URUGUAY; YUGOSLAVIA; HIGH RISK POPULATION; INFORMATION PROCESSING; MEDICAL LITERATURE; MORBIDITY; QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS; TREND STUDY;

AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS; HUMANS; WORLD HEALTH;

EID: 84880181631     PISSN: 02515350     EISSN: 14230208     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1159/000351153     Document Type: Review

References (80)

1. Rowland LP: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Curr Opin Neurol 1994; 7:310-315.
2. Sejvar JJ, Holman RC, Bresee JS, Kochanek KD, Schonberger LB: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mortality in the United States, 1979-2001. Neuroepidemiology 2005; 25:144-152.
3. Ng L, Talman P, Khan F: Motor neurone disease: disability profile and service needs in an Australian cohort. Int J Rehabil Res 2011; 34: 151-159.
4. Chiò A, Logroscino G, Hardiman O, Swingler R, Mitchell D, Beghi E, Traynor BG: Prognostic factors in ALS: a critical review. Amyo-troph Lateral Scler 2009; 10:310-323.
5. del Aguila MA, Longstreth WT Jr, McGuire V, Koepsell TD, van Belle G: Prognosis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a population-based study. Neurology 2003; 60:813-819.
6. Lopez-Bastida J, Perestelo-Perez L, Monton-Alvarez F, Serrano-Aguilar P, Alfonso-Sanchez JL: Social economic costs and health-related quality of life in patients with amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis in Spain. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2009; 10:237-243.
7. Schepelmann K, Winter Y, Spottke AE, Claus D, Grothe C, Schroder R, Heuss D, Vielhaber S, Mylius V, Kiefer R, Schrank B, Oertel WH, Dodel R: Socioeconomic burden of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis, myasthenia gravis and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. J Neurol 2010; 257:15-23.
8. Wolfson C, Kilborn S, Oskoui M, Genge A: Incidence and prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Canada: a systematic review of the literature. Neuroepidemiology 2009; 33: 79-88.
9. Cronin S, Hardiman O, Traynor BJ: Ethnic variation in the incidence of ALS: a systematic review. Neurology 2007; 68:1002-1007.
10. Chancellor AM, Warlow CP: Adult onset motor neuron disease: worldwide mortality, incidence and distribution since 1950. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1992; 55:1106-1115.
11. Román GC: Neuroepidemiology of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis: clues to aetiology and pathogenesis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1996; 61:131-137.
12. Brooke E: The Current and Future Use of Registers in Health Information Systems. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1974.
13. Argyriou AA, Polychronopoulos P, Papapet-ropoulos S, Ellul J, Andriopoulos I, Katsoulas G, Salakou S, Chroni E: Clinical and epide-miological features of motor neuron disease in south-western Greece. Acta Neurol Scand 2005; 111:108-113.
14. Beghi E, Millul A, Micheli A, Vitelli E, Logro-scino G: Incidence of ALS in Lombardy, Italy. Neurology 2007; 68:141-145.
15. Bonaparte JP, Grant IA, Benstead TJ, Murray TJ, Smith M: ALS incidence in Nova Scotia over a 20-year-period: a prospective study. Can J Neurol Sci 2007; 34:69-73.
16. Chiò A, Mora G, Calvo A, Mazzini L, Bottac-chi E, Mutani R: Epidemiology of ALS in Italy: a 10-year prospective population-based study. Neurology 2009; 72:725-731.
17. Donaghy C, Clarke J, Patterson C, Kee F, Hardiman O, Patterson V: The epidemiology of motor neuron disease in Northern Ireland using capture-recapture methodology. Amy-otroph Lateral Scler 2010; 11:374-378.
18. Donaghy C, O'Toole O, Sheehan C, Kee F, Hardiman O, Patterson V: An all-Ireland epi-demiological study of MND, 2004-2005. Eur J Neurol 2009; 16:148-153.
19. Forbes RB, Colville S, Parratt J, Swingler RJ: The incidence of motor neuron disease in Scotland. J Neurol 2007; 254:866-869.
20. Georgoulopoulou E, Vinceti M, Bonvicini F, Sola P, Goldoni CA, De Girolamo G, Ferraro D, Nichelli P, Mandrioli J: Changing incidence and subtypes of ALS in Modena, Italy: a 10-years prospective study. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2011; 12:451-457.
21. Huisman MH, de Jong SW, van Doormaal PT, Weinreich SS, Schelhaas HJ, van der Kooi AJ, de Visser M, Veldink JH, van den Berg LH: Population-based epidemiology of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis using capture-recapture methodology. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2011; 82:1165-1170.
22. Joensen P: Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the Faroe Islands. Acta Neurol Scand 2012; 126:62-66.
23. Logroscino G, Beghi E, Zoccolella S, Palagano R, Fraddosio A, Simone IL, Lamberti P, Lepore V, Serlenga L: Incidence of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis in southern Italy: a population-based study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2005; 76:1094-1098.
24. Marin B, Gil J, Preux PM, Funalot B, Couratier P: Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the Limousin region of France, 1997-2007. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2009; 10: 216-220.
25. McGuire V, Longstreth WT Jr, Koepsell TD, van Belle G: Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in three counties in western Washington state. Neurology 1996; 47:571-573.
26. Murphy M, Quinn S, Young J, Parkin P, Taylor B: Increasing incidence of ALS in Canterbury, New Zealand: a 22-year study. Neurology 2008; 71:1889-1895.
27. O'Toole O, Traynor BJ, Brennan P, Sheehan C, Frost E, Corr B, Hardiman O: Epidemiology and clinical features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Ireland between 1995 and 2004. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2008; 79: 30-32.
28. Vazquez MC, Ketzoian C, Legnani C, Rega I, Sanchez N, Perna A, Penela M, Aguirrezabal X, Druet-Cabanac M, Medici M: Incidence and prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Uruguay: a population-based study. Neuroepidemiology 2008; 30:105-111.
29. Yoshida S, Uebayashi Y, Kihira T, Kohmoto J, Wakayama I, Taguchi S, Yase Y: Epidemiology of motor neuron disease in the Kii Peninsula of Japan, 1989-1993: active or disappearing focus? J Neurol Sci 1998; 155:146-155.
30. Abhinav K, Stanton B, Johnston C, Hardstaff J, Orrell RW, Howard R, Clarke J, Sakel M, Ampong MA, Shaw CE, Leigh PN, Al-Chala-bi A: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in SouthEast England: a population-based study. The South-East England register for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SEALS Registry). Neuroepi-demiology 2007; 29:44-48.
31. Alcaz S, Jarebinski M, Pekmezovic T, Stevic-Marinkovic Z, Pavlovic S, Apostolski S: Epi-demiological and clinical characteristics of ALS in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Acta Neurol Scand 1996; 94:264-268.
32. Bonvicini F, Vinceti M, Marcello N, Rodolfi R, Rinaldi M: The epidemiology of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2008; 9:350-353.
33. Chiò A, Cucatto A, Calvo A, Terreni AA, Magnani C, Schiffer D: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis among the migrant population to Piemonte, northwestern Italy. J Neurol 1999; 246:175-180.
34. Cima V, Logroscino G, D'Ascenzo C, Pal-mieri A, Volpe M, Briani C, Pegoraro E, Angelini C, Soraru G: Epidemiology of ALS in Padova district, Italy, from 1992 to 2005. Eur J Neurol 2009; 16:920-924.
35. Fang F, Valdimarsdottir U, Bellocco R, Ron-nevi LO, Sparen P, Fall K, Ye W: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Sweden, 1991-2005. Arch Neurol 2009; 66:515-519.
36. Fong GC, Cheng TS, Lam K, Cheng WK, Mok KY, Cheung CM, Chim CS, Mak W, Chan KH, Tsang KL, Kwan MC, Tsoi TH, Cheung RT, Ho SL: An epidemiological study of motor neuron disease in Hong Kong. Amyo-troph Lateral Scler Other Motor Neuron Dis-ord 2005; 6:164-168.
37. Fong KY, Yu YL, Chan YW, Kay R, Chan J, Yang Z, Kwan MC, Leung KP, Li PC, Lam TH, Cheung RT: Motor neuron disease in Hong Kong Chinese: epidemiology and clinical picture. Neuroepidemiology 1996; 15:239-245.
38. Govoni V, Granieri E, Capone J, Manconi M, Casetta I: Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the local health district of Ferrara, Italy, 1964-1998. Neuroepidemiology 2003; 22:229-234.
39. Gross-Paju K, Oopik M, Luus SM, Kalbe I, Puksa L, Lepik T, Kaasik AE: Motor neurone disease in South Estonia. Diagnosis and incidence rate. Acta Neurol Scand 1998; 98:22-28.
40. Guidetti D, Bondavalli M, Sabadini R, Marcello N, Vinceti M, Cavalletti S, Marbini A, Gemignani F, Colombo A, Ferrari A, Vivoli G, Solime F: Epidemiological survey of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis in the province of Reggio Emilia, Italy: influence of environmental exposure to lead. Neuroepidemiology 1996; 15:301-312.
41. Gundersen MD, Yaseen R, Midgard R: Incidence and clinical features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in More and Romsdal County, Norway. Neuroepidemiology 2011; 37:58-63.
42. Huber S, Henn V: Unchanged incidence and prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in the canton of Zurich. Schweiz Arch Neurol Psychiatr 1995; 146:52-54.
43. Kihira T, Yoshida S, Hironishi M, Miwa H, Okamato K, Kondo T: Changes in the incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Wakayama, Japan. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Other Motor Neuron Disord 2005; 6:155-163.
44. Mandrioli J, Faglioni P, Merelli E, Sola P: The epidemiology of ALS in Modena, Italy. Neurology 2003; 60:683-689.
45. Sajjadi M, Etemadifar M, Nemati A, Ghazavi H, Basiri K, Khoundabi B, Mousavi SA, Kabi-ri P, Maghzi AH: Epidemiology of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis in Isfahan, Iran. Eur J Neurol 2010; 17:984-989.
46. Sorenson EJ, Stalker AP, Kurland LT, Windebank AJ: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1925 to 1998. Neurology 2002; 59:280-282.
47. Stickler DE, Royer JA, Hardin JW: Validity of hospital discharge data for identifying cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Muscle Nerve 2011; 44:814-816.
48. Turabelidze G, Zhu BP, Schootman M, Malone JL, Horowitz S, Weidinger J, Williamson D, Simoes E: An epidemiologic investigation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Jefferson County, Missouri, 1998-2002. Neurotox-icology 2008; 29:81-86.
49. Logroscino G, Traynor BJ, Hardiman O, Chiò A, Mitchell D, Swingler RJ, Millul A, Benn E, Beghi E: Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Europe. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2010; 81:385-390.
50. Brooks BR: El Escorial World Federation of Neurology criteria for the diagnosis of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis. Subcommittee on Motor Neuron Diseases/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis of the World Federation of Neurology Research Group on Neuromuscular Diseases and the El Escorial 'Clinical limits of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis' workshop contributors. J Neurol Sci 1994; 124(suppl): 96-107.
51. Brooks BR, Miller RG, Swash M, Munsat TL: El Escorial revisited: revised criteria for the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Other Motor Neuron Disord 2000; 1:293-299.
52. Beghi E, Logroscino G, Chiò A, Hardiman O, Mitchell D, Swingler R, Traynor BJ: The epidemiology of ALS and the role of population-based registries. Biochim Biophys Acta 2006; 1762:1150-1157.
53. Logroscino G, Traynor BJ, Hardiman O, Chiò A, Couratier P, Mitchell JD, Swingler RJ, Beghi E: Descriptive epidemiology of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis: new evidence and unsolved issues. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2008; 79:6-11.
54. Pedro-Cuesta J, Litvan I: Epidemiology of motor neuron disease; in Anderson DW, Schoenberg DG (eds): Neuroepidemiology: A Tribute to Bruce Schoenberg. Boca Raton, CRC Press, 1991, pp 265-296.
55. Worms PM: The epidemiology of motor neuron diseases: a review of recent studies. J Neu-rol Sci 2001; 191:3-9.
56. Majounie E, Renton AE, Mok K, Dopper EG, Waite A, Rollinson S, Chiò A, Restagno G, Nicolaou N, Simon-Sanchez J, van Swieten JC, Abramzon Y, Johnson JO, Sendtner M, Pam-phlett R, Orrell RW, Mead S, Sidle KC, Houl-den H, Rohrer JD, Morrison KE, Pall H, Talbot K, Ansorge O, Hernandez DG, Arepalli S, Sabatelli M, Mora G, Corbo M, Giannini F, Calvo A, Englund E, Borghero G, Floris GL, Remes AM, Laaksovirta H, McCluskey L, Tro-janowski JQ, Van Deerlin VM, Schellenberg GD, Nalls MA, Drory VE, Lu CS, Yeh TH, Ishiura H, Takahashi Y, Tsuji S, Le Ber I, Brice A, Drepper C, Williams N, Kirby J, Shaw P, Hardy J, Tienari PJ, Heutink P, Morris HR, Pickering-Brown S, Traynor BJ: Frequency of the C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia: a cross-sectional study. Lancet Neurol 2012; 11:323-330.
57. Mok K, Traynor BJ, Schymick J, Tienari PJ, Laaksovirta H, Peuralinna T, Myllykangas L, Chiò A, Shatunov A, Boeve BF, Boxer AL, DeJe-sus-Hernandez M, Mackenzie IR, Waite A, Williams N, Morris HR, Simon-Sanchez J, van Swieten JC, Heutink P, Restagno G, Mora G, Morrison KE, Shaw PJ, Rollinson PS, Al-Chal-abi A, Rademakers R, Pickering-Brown S, Or-rell RW, Nalls MA, Hardy J: Chromosome 9 ALS and FTD locus is probably derived from a single founder. Neurobiol Aging 2012; 33: 209.
58. van Es MA, Veldink JH, Saris CG, Blauw HM, van Vught PW, Birve A, Lemmens R, Schelhaas HJ, Groen EJ, Huisman MH, van der Kooi AJ, de Visser M, Dahlberg C, Estrada K, Rivadeneira F, Hofman A, Zwarts MJ, van Doormaal PT, Rujescu D, Strengman E, Gieg-ling I, Muglia P, Tomik B, Slowik A, Uitterlin-den AG, Hendrich C, Waibel S, Meyer T, Ludolph AC, Glass JD, Purcell S, Cichon S, Nothen MM, Wichmann HE, Schreiber S, Vermeulen SH, Kiemeney LA, Wokke JH, Cronin S, McLaughlin RL, Hardiman O, Fu-moto K, Pasterkamp RJ, Meininger V, Melki J, Leigh PN, Shaw CE, Landers JE, Al-Chalabi A, Brown RH Jr, Robberecht W, Andersen PM, Ophoff RA, van den Berg LH: Genome-wide association study identifies 19p13.3 (UNC13A) and 9p21.2 as susceptibility loci for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Nat Genet 2009; 41:1083-1087.
59. Scott KM, Abhinav K, Stanton BR, Johnston C, Turner MR, Ampong MA, Sakel M, Orrell RW, Howard R, Shaw CE, Leigh PN, Al-Cha-labi A: Geographical clustering of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis in South-East England: a population study. Neuroepidemiology 2009; 32:81-88.
60. Scott KM, Abhinav K, Wijesekera L, Ganesal-ingam J, Goldstein LH, Janssen A, Dougherty A, Willey E, Stanton BR, Turner MR, Am-pong MA, Sakel M, Orrell R, Howard R, Shaw CE, Nigel Leigh P, Al-Chalabi A: The association between ALS and population density: a population-based study. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2010; 11:435-438.
61. Leone M, Chiò A, Mortara P, Rosso MG, Schiffer D: Motor neuron disease in the Province of Turin, Italy, 1971-1980. Acta Neurol Scand 1983; 68:316-327.
62. Traynor BJ: The era of genomic epidemiology. Neuroepidemiology 2009; 33:276-279.
63. Laaksovirta H, Peuralinna T, Schymick JC, Scholz SW, Lai SL, Myllykangas L, Sulkava R, Jansson L, Hernandez DG, Gibbs JR, Nalls MA, Heckerman D, Tienari PJ, Traynor BJ: Chromosome 9p21 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Finland: a genome-wide association study. Lancet Neurol 2010; 9:978-985.
64. Chiò A, Borghero G, Pugliatti M, Ticca A, Calvo A, Moglia C, Mutani R, Brunetti M, Os-sola I, Marrosu MG, Murru MR, Floris G, Cannas A, Parish LD, Cossu P, Abramzon Y, Johnson JO, Nalls MA, Arepalli S, Chong S, Hernandez DG, Traynor BJ, Restagno G: Large proportion of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases in Sardinia due to a single founder mutation of the TARDBP gene. Arch Neurol 2011; 68:594-598.
65. DeJesus-Hernandez M, Mackenzie IR, Boeve BF, Boxer AL, Baker M, Rutherford NJ, Nicholson AM, Finch NA, Flynn H, Adamson J, Kouri N, Wojtas A, Sengdy P, Hsiung GY, Karydas A, Seeley WW, Josephs KA, Coppola G, Geschwind DH, Wszolek ZK, Feldman H, Knopman DS, Petersen RC, Miller BL, Dickson DW, Boylan KB, Graff-Radford NR, Rademakers R: Expanded GGGGCC hexanu-cleotide repeat in noncoding region of C9ORF72 causes chromosome 9p-linked FTD and ALS. Neuron 2011; 72:245-256.
66. Renton AE, Majounie E, Waite A, Simon-Sanchez J, Rollinson S, Gibbs JR, Schymick JC, Laaksovirta H, van Swieten JC, Myllykan-gas L, Kalimo H, Paetau A, Abramzon Y, Remes AM, Kaganovich A, Scholz SW, Duckworth J, Ding J, Harmer DW, Hernandez DG, Johnson JO, Mok K, Ryten M, Trabzuni D, Guerreiro RJ, Orrell RW, Neal J, Murray A, Pearson J, Jansen IE, Sondervan D, Seelaar H, Blake D, Young K, Halliwell N, Callister JB, Toulson G, Richardson A, Gerhard A, Snowden J, Mann D, Neary D, Nalls MA, Peu-ralinna T, Jansson L, Isoviita VM, Kaivorinne AL, Holtta-Vuori M, Ikonen E, Sulkava R, Benatar M, Wuu J, Chiò A, Restagno G, Bor-ghero G, Sabatelli M, Heckerman D, Rogaeva E, Zinman L, Rothstein JD, Sendtner M, Drepper C, Eichler EE, Alkan C, Abdullaev Z, Pack SD, Dutra A, Pak E, Hardy J, Singleton A, Williams NM, Heutink P, Pickering-Brown S, Morris HR, Tienari PJ, Traynor BJ: A hexanucleotide repeat expansion in C9ORF72 is the cause of chromosome 9p21-linked ALS-FTD. Neuron 2011; 72:257-268.
67. Annegers JF, Appel S, Lee JR, Perkins P: Incidence and prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Harris County, Texas, 1985-1988. Arch Neurol 1991; 48:589-593.
68. Zaldivar T, Gutierrez J, Lara G, Carbonara M, Logroscino G, Hardiman O: Reduced frequency of ALS in an ethnically mixed population: a population-based mortality study. Neurology 2009; 72:1640-1645.
69. Hoppitt T, Pall H, Calvert M, Gill P, Yao G, Ramsay J, James G, Conduit J, Sackley C: A systematic review of the incidence and prevalence of long-term neurological conditions in the UK. Neuroepidemiology 2011; 36:19-28.
70. Marin B, Couratier P, Preux PM, Logroscino G: Can mortality data be used to estimate amyotrophic lateral sclerosis incidence? Neu-roepidemiology 2011; 36:29-38.
71. Beghi E, Chiò A, Couratier P, Esteban J, Hardiman O, Logroscino G, Millul A, Mitchell D, Preux PM, Pupillo E, Stevic Z, Swingler R, Traynor BJ, Van den Berg LH, Veldink JH, Zoccolella S: The epidemiology and treatment of ALS: focus on the heterogeneity of the disease and critical appraisal of therapeutic trials. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2011; 12:1-10.
72. di Poggio MB, Sormani MP, Truffelli R, Man-dich P, Origone P, Verdiani S, Mantero V, Scialo C, Schenone A, Mancardi GL, Capon-netto C: Clinical epidemiology of ALS in Li-guria, Italy. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Fronto-temporal Degener 2013; 14:52-57.
73. Giagheddu M, Puggioni G, Tacconi P, Pirast-ru MI, Cannas A, Tamburini G, Congia S: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Sardinia (Italy): epidemiologic features from 1957 to 2000. Acta Neurol Scand 2013; 127:251-259.
74. Pugliatti M, Parish LD, Cossu P, Leoni S, Ticca A, Saddi MV, Ortu E, Traccis S, Borghero G, Puddu R, Chiò A, Pirina P: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Sardinia, insular Italy, 1995-2009. J Neurol 2013; 260:572-579.
75. Ragonese P, Cellura E, Aridon P, D'Amelio M, Spataro R, Taiello AC, Maimone D, La Bella V, Savettieri G: Incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Sicily: a population-based study. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2012; 13:284-287.
76. Kihira T, Yoshida S, Kondo T, Iwai K, Wada S, Morinaga S, Kazimoto Y, Kondo T, Oka-moto K, Kokubo Y, Kuzuhara S: An increase in ALS incidence on the Kii Peninsula, 1960-2009: a possible link to change in drinking water source. Amyotroph Lateral Scler 2012; 13: 347-350.
77. Wagner L, Archer NP, Williamson DM, Henry JP, Schiffer R, Jackson CE: Prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Texas, 1998-2003. Tex Med 2012; 108:e1.
78. Wittie M, Nelson LM, Usher S, Ward K, Benatar M: Utility of capture-recapture methodology to assess completeness of amyo-trophic lateral sclerosis case ascertainment. Neuroepidemiology 2013; 40:133-141.
79. Rabkin J, Ogino M, Goetz R, McElhiney M, Marziliano A, Imai T, Atsuta N, Morita M, Tateishi T, Matsumura T, Mitsumoto H: Tra-cheostomy with invasive ventilation for ALS patients: neurologists' roles in the US and Japan. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotempo-ral Degener 2013; 14:116-123.
80. Antao VC, Horton DK: The National Amyo-trophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Registry. J Environ Health 2012; 75:28-30.