Prognosis of SMON patients.

The following points have become clear on prognosis of SMON through the analysis of 981 cases collected. 1) The prognosis of the old whose ages were 60 year old or over is not favorable, when compared with that of the young. However, there is no prognostic difference between male and female. 2) The cummulative death rate of SMON which was calculated by the life table method is approx twice as much as the generally expected value. 3) Approximately 80% of the patients showed some sort of improvement 7 to 12 months after the onset of the disease. The rate for 13 months or over if nearly the same. 4) The abdominal symptoms found at the time of the onset of the disease decreased markedly in the course of the disease. 5) Among neurological symptoms, the prognosis of motor disorders is more favorable. The complete recovery of sensory disturbances was extremely rare, but approx 60% showed more or less favorable in the course of the illness. Approximately 40% of the cases with visual disturbances completely recovered or showed favorable improvement, whereas 9% of them became worse. As for the prognosis of visual impairment, it is more serious than other symptoms. 6) The patients who had been administered clioquinol over long period displayed a higher rate of severe or moderate motor, sensory and visual disturbances, compared with the group with short-term administration of clioquinol. The death rate was also higher in the former group. 7) The rate of relapse as a whole was 16.7% and 68% of them was seen within 18 months after the onset. There is no difference in relapse according to sex. There was seen a high rate of relapse in the group of longterm administration of clioquinol. 8) A 10.5% of total cases were either unable to walk or in need of assistance in walking, whereas the rate of patients who cannot get dressed or who cannot defecate unassisted was lower. 9) Approximately 65% returned to the job in 12 months or more after the onset. The employment rate was not different according to sex, whereas it was lower along with the age advances. 10) Approximately 20% were not received medical treatment. The rate of non-treated patients is higher in the younger patients. The rate of hospitalized patients was higher in the older patients.