Researchers in Hong Kong investigated the extent to which treatment with intrathecal nusinersen influenced the risk of bilateral hip dislocation, a complication very frequently observed in spinal muscular atrophy type II (SMA II) linked to the SMN1 gene :
- 10 children with SMA type II were included in the study, which ran for three and a half years (2018-2022),
- the median age of this cohort was 6.8 years,
- all participants were symptomatic at the time of initiation of nusinersen,
- although 60% of the children acquired walking ability with treatment, the majority of their hips remained subluxated or at risk of subluxation.
The authors incriminate a hip abductor muscle deficit that persisted despite treatment.
