Question

what are some diagnostic techniques for a patient with ALS ?

Answer 1

Diagnostic Testes for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

No test can provide a definite diagnosis of ALS, although the presence of upper and lower motor neuron signs in a single limb is strongly suggestive.^[5] Instead, the diagnosis of ALS is primarily based on the symptoms and signs the physician observes in the person and a series of tests to rule out other diseases.^[5] Physicians obtain the person's full medical history and usually conduct a neurologic examination .

symptoms of ALS can be similar to those of a wide variety of other, more treatable diseases or disorders, appropriate tests must be conducted to exclude the possibility of other conditions.

1) Electromyography : a special recording technique that detects electrical activity in muscles.^[5] Certain EMG findings can support the diagnosis of ALS.

2) Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) : Specific abnormalities in the NCV results may suggest, for example, that the person has a form of peripheral neuropathy (damage to peripheral nerves) or myopathy (muscle disease) rather than ALS.

3) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) : it can reveal evidence of other problems that may be causing the symptoms, such as a spinal cord tumor, multiple sclerosis, a herniated disk in the neck, syringomyelia, or cervical spondylosis.

Based on the person's symptoms and findings from the examination and from these tests, the physician may order tests on blood and urine samples to eliminate the possibility of other diseases, as well as routine laboratory tests.^[5] In some cases, for example, if a physician suspects the person may have a myopathy rather than ALS, a muscle biopsy may be performed.

THANKS