Racial, Ethnic Disparities Seen Among Patients With Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease

Black and White patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) type 1A display differences in mean age at disease diagnosis, according to study results presented at the 2023 American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) Annual Meeting, held from November 1 to 4 in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Due to a lack of data on clinical differences among different ethnicities in patients with CMT type 1A, researchers sought to compare disease history and clinical exam findings between Black and White patients with CMT type 1A.

First-generation Black patients with CMT type 1A were compared with first-generation white patients with CMT type 1A, based on sex, age, and body mass index (BMI).

All participants received a median and ulnar nerve ultrasound and underwent nerve conduction studies, as well as had a CMT neuropathy score.

The researchers included 10 patients with CMT type 1A, 5 of whom were Black and 5 of whom were White (mean age at study enrollment, 46.2 vs 45.6, respectively; P =.938).

The researchers determined mean age at CMT type 1A diagnosis was higher among Black vs White study participants (39.6 vs 24.6; P <.0212). However, no statistical differences were observed between the 2 ethnicities in age at symptom onset, disease manifestations, and clinical exam findings.

 “This study highlights the need for improved recognition of inherited peripheral nerve disease among the African American community,” the researchers concluded.