Pulmonary function in patients with hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy: A comparison of patients with and without spinal deformity

We assessed pulmonary function in hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy. Fourteen neuropathy patients without spinal deformity (group 1), 14 with spinal deformity (group 2), and 16 individuals with idiopathic spinal deformity (group 3) matched to group 2 for age, height and Cobb angle, were included. Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy severity was measured with Charcot–Marie–Tooth Neuropathy Score. All participants exhibited mild decrease in maximal inspiratory pressure at the mouth. One-way analysis of variance yielded significant main effects for lung volumes – slow vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and total lung capacity (p’s < .01), attributable to greater volumes in group 1 compared to groups with spinal deformity – and transfer factor for carbon monoxide (p = .013), reflecting differences between groups 1 vs. 2. Slow vital capacity and total lung capacity correlated with maximal inspiratory pressure at the mouth in group 2, whereas slow vital capacity correlated with muscle work in group 3 (p’s < .05). Decreased lung volume may be due to impaired respiratory muscle strength in hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy with spinal deformity and due to spinal deformity in idiopathic patients.