The clinical characteristics of Hirayama disease in females

Introduction

To characterize Hirayama disease in female patients, and increase awareness among clinicians regarding the specifics of this disease.

Methods

Baseline data, clinical manifestations, characteristics of cervical-flexion magnetic resonance imaging, and electromyography were collected and compared among females and males with Hirayama disease. In addition, the literature on Hirayama disease in females up to October, 2021 was searched in PubMed and the relevant data were compared with the data from our study.

Results

Twenty female and 40 male patients were included in this study. The average ages of onset and menarche were 14.65 and 12.75 years old. All patients suffered from muscular weakness and atrophy of the upper limb(s), with flattening and/or atrophy of the lower cervical spinal cords in cervical-flexion magnetic resonance imaging, and neurogenic patterns in the atrophic muscles as determined using electromyography. The age of onset in females was about 2 years later than the age of menarche, and the age of onset in females was 2 years earlier than that in males. There were no obvious differences in clinical presentation between males and females.

Discussion

Although females presented with Hirayama disease two years earlier than males, no other clinical differences were observed. Hirayama disease is likely associated with growth and development in puberty, and early identification, regardless of whether patients are male or female, is critical to optimizing prognosis.