Few comprehensive epidemiological studies of the prevalence of muscle diseases have been undertaken, and none has been carried out in our locality. The present cross-sectional study was conducted in Assiut Governorate (Upper Egypt) to estimate the prevalence of different types of primary muscular disorder in 1997. The study involved 52,203 subjects, 15,617 (30%) from the rural community and 36,586 (70%) from the urban community. Patients were identified from a door-to-door survey, and all were subjected to a full clinical examination, with confirmation of the diagnosis through electrophysiological, and biochemical investigations. Histopathological studies were performed for the classification of muscular dystrophies. Forty patients with muscular disorders were identified, with a point prevalence of 76.6 per 100,000 in the total community with no significant differences between the rural and urban communities. The creatine kinase level was abnormally high (>225 IU/l) in 80% of the cases, increased in all patients with muscular dystrophy or myositis, in 88.8% of patients with systemic myopathy and 66.6% of patients with myotonia. None of the cases of myasthenia showed an increase in the creatine kinase level. The lifetime prevalence per 100,000 was 26.8 for muscular dystrophy, 11.49 for myotonia, 11.49 for myositis, 17.24 for systemic myopathy and 9.57 for myasthenia.

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Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most frequent cause of motor handicap. The present door-to-door survey was conducted in Al-Quseir City, Egypt, to investigate the epidemiology of CP. All inhabitants were screened by three neurologists. Medical and neurological examinations were performed for all residents and suspected cases of CP were confirmed by meticulous neurological assessment, brain magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography, and testing with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Forty-six of 12,788 children aged ≤18 years were found to have CP, yielding a childhood prevalence of 3.6 (95% confidence interval 1.48–2.59) per 1,000 live births. Five adults (aged 19–40 years) among 13,056 inhabitants had CP, giving an adult prevalence of 0.4 (95% confidence interval 0.04–0.72) per 1,000. The risk factors for CP identified in this study were premature birth, low birth weight, neonatal jaundice, neonatal seizures, and recurrent abortion in mothers of children with CP.

A total of 437 patients with epilepsy were identified, 30.7% of whom (n=134/437) were uncontrolled, with a prevalence of 2.1/1000. A total of 52.2% of uncontrolled patients (n=70/134) were inappropriately treated, while 47.8% (n=64/134) were compliant with appropriate treatments. Video monitoring EEG of compliant uncontrolled patients demonstrated that 78.1% patients (n=50/64) had definite epilepsy, while 21.9% (n=14/64) had psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). A logistic regression analysis revealed that status epilepticus, focal seizures, and mixed seizure types were risk factors for intractability.

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