Epidemiology of multiple system atrophy: A prevalence and pilot risk factor study in Aquitaine, France

We investigated the prevalence of multiple system atrophy (MSA) in Gironde, France, through a network of 120 public and private specialists and assessed the relationship between some environmental factors and MSA in a case-control study involving 50 MSA patients, 50 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 50 healthy controls. The occupational exposure to pesticides was evaluated through a job-exposure matrix. On prevalence day (November 1, 1998), the crude prevalence of MSA in Gironde was 1.94/100,000 inhabitants. We found no significant relationship between occupational exposure to pesticides and MSA. PD patients were significantly less frequently ever-smokers than controls and the same tendency was observed for MSA patients. We also described the clinical features that heralded the disease among this nonselected population. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.