Difficulties in diagnosing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with lumbosacral debut

Description of a clinical case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with lumbosacral debut. These data show certain difficulties for neurologists in correct diagnosing ALS or classifying it as a motor neuron disease. The differential diagnosis at admission was carried out with vertebrogenic cervical myelopathy, myasthenia gravis, and neural amyotrophy. During the collection of anamnesis, therapeutic and neurological examinations, evidence of motor neuron degeneration in the cervical-thoracic and lumbosacral parts of the spinal cord was revealed. We used auxiliary diagnostic methods (RCT of the spine and MRI of the brain, clinical and laboratory methods) to exclude other pathologies. The diagnosis of ALS is a verdict for the patient, since there is no effective treatment for the disease at the moment. CONCLUSION: The symptoms of ALS are largely similar to other potentially curable and / or benign diseases of the nervous system, so the patient's examination should be comprehensive, with the possible use of molecular genetic research methods.