Hereditary spastic paraplegia in Mali: epidemiological and clinical features.

Background And Purpose: Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a group of neurodegenerative diseases divided into pure and complex forms, with spasticity in lower limbs only, or associated with other neurologic and non-neurologic manifestations, respectively. Although widely reported in other populations, very little data exist in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: Patients with neurodegenerative features were evaluated over a 19-month period at the Department of Neurology, Teaching Hospital of Point "G", Bamako, Mali.

Neuropsychiatric and socio-cultural aspects in a Malian family with spinocerebellar ataxia.

Introduction: Spino-cerebellar ataxia or SCA are dominant neurological diseases caused by mutations in several genes. According to social and cultural contexts, especially in populations with low education level, the advent of such diseases might generate other kinds of suffering beside those caused by the physical impairment and disability. The aim of this work was to determine the impact of this disease in patients and their relatives.

Genetics of low spinal muscular atrophy carrier frequency in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objective: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is one of the most common severe hereditary diseases of infancy and early childhood in North America, Europe, and Asia. SMA is usually caused by deletions of the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. A closely related gene, SMN2, modifies the disease severity.

Effect of seasonality and ecological factors on the prevalence of the four malaria parasite species in northern mali.

Background. We performed 2 cross-sectional studies in Ménaka in the Northeastern Mali across 9 sites in different ecological settings: 4 sites have permanent ponds, 4 without ponds, and one (City of Ménaka) has a semipermanent pond. We enrolled 1328 subjects in May 2004 (hot dry season) and 1422 in February 2005 (cold dry season) after the rainy season.