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Attenuation of ALS progression during pregnancy—lessons to be learned or just a coincidence?

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Abstract

ALS is the most frequent motor neuron disorder in adults with suggested complex relationship regarding gender. Studies investigating ALS and hormones have provided varying results. ALS onset during pregnancy is uncommon and pregnancy after the ALS symptom onset is even rarer. We present three patients with the onset of ALS symptoms before or during pregnancy and propose a putative disease modifying mechanism leading to attenuation of disease progression that we observed during the pregnancies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kispaticeva 12, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Mirea Hancevic, Hrvoje Bilic, Barbara Sitas, Fran Borovecki & Ervina Bilic

  2. Department of Pulmonology, Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kispaticeva 12, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Gordana Pavlisa

  3. School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Salata 2, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Fran Borovecki & Ervina Bilic

  4. Laboratory of Molecular Immunology, Department of Biotechnology, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejcic 2, 51000, Rijeka, Croatia

    Ivana Munitic

Authors
  1. Mirea Hancevic
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  2. Hrvoje Bilic
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  3. Barbara Sitas
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  4. Gordana Pavlisa
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  5. Fran Borovecki
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  6. Ivana Munitic
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  7. Ervina Bilic
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Correspondence to Mirea Hancevic.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Hancevic, M., Bilic, H., Sitas, B. et al. Attenuation of ALS progression during pregnancy—lessons to be learned or just a coincidence?. Neurol Sci 40, 1275–1278 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-019-03748-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-019-03748-z

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