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Almaguer-Mederosa LE, Falcón NS, Almira YR, Zaldivar YG, Almarales DC, Góngora EM, Herrera MP, Batallán KE, Armiñán RR, Manresa MV, Cruz GS, Laffita-Mesa J, Cyuz TM, Chang V, Auburger G, Gispert S, Pérez LV. Estimation of the age at onset in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 Cuban patients by survival analysis. Previous studies have investigated the close association that exists between CAG repeat number and the age at onset in SCA2 = spinocerebellar ataxia type 2. These studies have focused on affected individuals. To further characterize this association and estimate the risk of a carrier developing SCA2 at a particular age as a function of a specific CAG repeat size, we have analyzed a large group of 924 individuals, including 394 presymptomatic and 530 affected individuals with a CAG repeat length of 32–79 units. Using a Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, we obtained cumulative probability curves for disease manifestation at a particular age for each CAG repeat length in the 34–45 range. These curves were significantly different (p < 0.001) and showed small overlap. All these information may be very valuable in predictive-testing programs, in the planning of studies for the identification of other genetic and environmental factors as modifiers of age at onset, and in the design of clinical trials for people at enlarged risk for SCA2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on Cuban patients from Holguín, Cuba with Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 2 (SCA2), a neurodegenerative disorder. It notes that there are insufficient data assessing the patient's survival of SCA2 despite its early mortality and morbidity. It mentions that the authors used the large samples of affected families of SCA2 to evaluate the disease and its impact on patient's survival. It indicates that molecular and clinical data were gathered from SCA2 families.