Prevalence
What is the Prevalence of Parsonage Turner Syndrome?
Idiopathic Parsonage-Turner syndrome has been thought to be a rare condition with previous recorded incidences at 1.64 patients per 100,000 population per year in Minnesota over a 11-year period from 19701 and 3 patients per 100,000 population per year in the UK2.
Incidence in the general population was investigated in 2012 in a prospective cohort study involving two primary care centres serving a tertiary referral centre in the Netherlands3. Prior to the study General Practitioners received a short period of training to diagnose the condition. 14 confirmed cases were recorded as part of the study from a total population of 14,118 amounting to a one-year incidence of 1 case per 1000.
References
1. Beghi E, Kurland LT, Mulder DW, Nicolosi A (1985). Brachial plexus neuropathy in the population of Rochester, Minnesota, 1970–1981. Ann Neurol 18: 320–323. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.410180308
2. MacDonald BK, Cockerell OC, Sander JW, Shorvon SD (2000) The incidence and lifetime prevalence of neurological disorders in a prospective community-based study in the UK. Brain 123: 665–676. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/123.4.665
3. van Alfen N, van Eijk JJJ, Ennik T, Flynn SO, Nobacht IEG, Groothuis JT, et al. (2015) Incidence of Neuralgic Amyotrophy (Parsonage Turner Syndrome) in a Primary Care Setting – A Prospective Cohort Study. PLoS ONE 10(5): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0128361