Conference on the Diagnosis of Multiple System Atrophy

描述（由申请人提供）：结构和功能成像以及神经病理学的最新进展揭示了多系统萎缩（MSA）的独特变化，现在可以添加到当前的诊断指南中，仅使用临床标准。这是一项关于MSA诊断的计划、发展和召开共识会议的提议，并结合影像学和神经病理学的最新进展创建一套新的诊断标准。指导委员会从一大批国际公认的MSA具体表现方面的专家中挑选了参与者。参加者是根据他们在诊断MSA方面的专门知识选择的，并作出了特别努力，使妇女和少数民族包括在内。在召开会议之前，指导委员会将根据与会者的专门知识将他们分成5个小组，并为每个小组指定一名主席，并赋予每个小组从其独特的角度制定协商一致准则草案的任务。分组包括神经病理学、影像学、帕金森、小脑和自主神经表现。在收到这些准则草案后，指导委员会将对其进行综合，并拟订一份统一的协商一致文件草案，供会议审议。该会议将于2007年4月26日和27日在波士顿召开，并与美国神经病学学会的年度会议联合召开。利用共识方法，与会者将根据指导委员会的草案制定新的MSA临床诊断指南。研究结果将被纳入适当临床会议的摘要中，完整的手稿将在著名的神经学期刊上发表。MSA、帕金森氏病和共济失调都在NINDS的兴趣范围内，它资助了一个MSA项目，并在其他领域提供了大量赠款。目前提案的参与者中有三名是国家减灾研究所MSA方案项目的调查人员。与公共卫生相关：MSA是一种进行性神经退行性疾病，常被误认为是帕金森病。准确的早期诊断对于MSA许多可治疗特征的医学治疗和新药物临床试验的受试者选择是重要的。本次会议将通过使用最新的影像学和神经病理标准制定新的诊断指南来协助早期诊断。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent advances in structural and functional imaging and in neuropathology have revealed distinctive changes in multiple system atrophy (MSA), and now can be added to current diagnostic guidelines, which utilize clinical criteria alone. This is a proposal to plan, develop and convene a consensus conference on the diagnosis of MSA and create a new set of diagnostic criteria incorporating recent advances in imaging and neuropathology. A Steering Committee has selected the participants from a large group of internationally recognized experts in the specific manifestations of MSA. Participants were selected based upon their expertise in the diagnosis of MSA, and special efforts were made to include women and minorities. In advance of the conference, the Steering Committee will divide the participants into five groups based upon their specific expertise, appoint a chair for each group, and give each group the task of developing draft consensus guidelines from its unique perspective. The groups include neuropathology, imaging, and the parkinsonian, cerebellar and autonomic manifestations of MSA. Upon receipt of these draft guidelines, the Steering Committee will integrate them and develop a unified draft consensus document for consideration at the conference. The conference will be convened in Boston on April 26 and 27, 2007 in association with the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. Utilizing consensus methodology, the participants will develop new guidelines for the clinical diagnosis of MSA based upon the draft from the Steering Committee. The results will be incorporated into abstracts for appropriate clinical meetings and a full manuscript will be developed for publication in a prominent neurological journal. MSA, Parkinson's disease and the ataxias are within the province of interest of NINDS, which funds a program project on MSA and numerous grants in the remaining areas. Three of the participants in the current proposal are investigators in the NINDS Program Project on MSA. Relevance to public health: MSA is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is often mistaken for Parkinson's disease. Accurate early diagnosis is important for medical therapy of many of the treatable features of MSA and for selecting subjects for clinical trials of new medications. This conference will assist with early diagnosis by developing new guidelines for diagnosis using newly available imaging and neuropathological criteria.