04 Oct 2018
The Italian neuromuscular registry: a coordinated platform where patient organizations and clinicians collaborate for data collection and multiple usage
Authors:
Anna Ambrosini, Daniela Calabrese, Francesco Maria Avato, Felice Catania, Guido Cavaletti, Maria Carmela Pera, Antonio Toscano, Giuseppe Vita, Lucia Monaco and Davide Pareyson
The worldwide landscape of patient registries in the neuromuscular disease (NMD) field has significantly changed in the last 10 years, with the international TREAT-NMD network acting as strong driver. At the same time, the European Medicines Agency and the large federations of rare disease patient organizations (POs), such as EURORDIS, contributed to a great cultural change, by promoting a paradigm shift from product-registries to patient-centred registries. In Italy, several NMD POs and Fondazione Telethon undertook the development of a TREAT-NMD linked patient registry in 2009, with the referring clinical network providing input and support to this initiative through the years. This article describes the outcome of this joint effort and shares the experience gained.