News

Nonambulatory young adults with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) who have contractures  — when muscle and connective tissue around a joint become short and hardened — do not feel significantly hindered by these in their daily lives. Despite contractures in multiple joints, they do not perceive them as a constant…

Decreased levels of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein — missing or present in low levels in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) — can cause defects in the structure and function of a brain’s cerebellum. This can result in difficulties with motor control and affect the ability to coordinate…

Children diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and started on Spinraza (nusinersen) as presymptomatic newborns safely continue to achieve motor milestones with no need for permanent ventilation after five years of treatment, updated data from the ongoing NURTURE trial show. For the majority of trial children with…

A histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzyme inhibitor called AR42 was found to prolong survival and ease motor symptoms in a mouse model of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). While scientists initially expected the experimental molecule to show benefits by helping to boost levels of the SMN protein that’s deficient in…

Most of the infants and children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in the RESPOND clinical trial who responded poorly to the gene therapy Zolgensma showed gains in motor function with Biogen’s Spinraza (nusinersen), according to early results. Prior preclinical studies have suggested Zolgensma may target…

A growing number of young children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1 who started taking Evrysdi (risdiplam) as babies are gaining the ability to sit, stand, and walk, according to four-year data from the FIREFISH clinical trial. No new deaths have been reported since the study’s…

Add-on treatment with Scholar Rock‘s muscle-targeted therapy apitegromab continues to stabilize or improve motor function for young spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) types 2 and 3 patients who entered the study unable to walk, according to a three-year update from the TOPAZ clinical trial and its…

Researchers are calling for change in prenatal diagnostic procedures in Latvia after the first registered case of a newborn with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 0 was reported in the country. “[It] is crucial to be able to detect this disease prenatally in order to provide the best…

Muscle abnormalities observed with ultrasound imaging correlated with motor function in people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in a recent study. While the findings varied somewhat by muscle group and SMA type, ultrasound data generally indicated SMA patients exhibited muscle atrophy and signs of fat and connective tissue…

Many patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) spend the majority of their time sitting in wheelchairs. Increased periods of sitting can lead to tailbone pain due to increased pressure on those areas. When these areas become stiff and painful, a little mobilization can lead to reduced pain and improved…