Background and Objective: Patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treated with a disease-modifying therapy (DMT) are often classified as responders or non-responders based on the attainment of a specific improvement threshold on validated functional scales. This categorization may significantly impact treatment reimbursement in some countries. The aim of this research is to evaluate the perception of treatments and their benefit by patients considered as responders or non-responders. Methods: In this non-commercial multicenter study, 99 post-symptomatically treated SMA type I–III patients with a median age of 11.2 (0.39–57.4) years at treatment initiation were stratified into three groups based on their treatment outcomes, i.e., those exhibiting clinically significant improvement (N = 41), those with non-clinically significant improvement (N = 18), or those showing no improvement (N = 40). Fifteen months after treatment, the initiation patients or patients’ caregivers were assessed using a patient-rated scoring system based on the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) scale, comprising 22 questions targeting important aspects and tasks in the daily life of patients with SMA. Results: We found no statistical difference in the patient perception of treatment benefits in 17 out of 22 domains across patient groups. Conclusions: Our results suggest that functional motor scales do not recapitulate patients’ and patients’ caregivers’ experience of the effect of nusinersen treatment in SMA.

Background and Objective: Patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) treated with a dis-ease-modifying therapy (DMT) are often classified as responders or non-responders based on at-tainment of a specific improvement threshold on validated functional scales. This categorization may significantly impact treatment reimbursement in some countries. The aim of this research is to evaluate the perception of treatment benefit by patients considered as responder or non-responder. Methods: In this non-commercial multicenter study, 99 post-symptomatically treated SMA type I-III patients with a median age of 11.2 (0.39-57.4) years at treatment initiation were stratified into three groups based on their treatment outcomes, i.e. those exhibiting clinically significant improvement (N=41), those with non-clinically significant improvement (N=18), or those show-ing no improvement (N=40). Fifteen months after treatment initiation patients or patients’ care-givers were assessed using a patient-rated scoring system based on the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) scale, comprising 22 questions targeting important aspects and tasks in the daily life of patients with SMA. Results: We found no statistical difference in patient perception of treatment benefit in 17 out of 22 domains across patient groups. Conclusion: Our results suggest that functional motor scales do not recapitulate patients and pa-tients’ caregivers experience about the effect of nusinersen treatment in SMA.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic disease that affects the motor neurons and leads to muscle wasting and deterioration of the patient’s general condition. Until recently, there were no causal treatment options for patients with SMA; they were completely dependent on supportive care and the maintenance of vital functions. Today, three treatment options are available: nusinersen, risdiplam, and gene replacement therapy with onasemnogene abeparvovec. Gene replacement therapy with onasemnogene abeparvovec (Zolgensma®) represents a new milestone in the treatment of SMA. In this article, we present the first two SMA patients treated with gene replacement therapy in Slovenia. These two cases are also the first cases of gene replacement therapy for any disease in Slovenia. These two cases mark the pioneering applications of gene replacement therapy in treating diseases within the national context. They serve as pivotal demonstrations affirming the feasibility of safely and efficaciously administering advanced therapies to patients in Slovenia. Such achievements underscore the importance of a multidisciplinary team’s ability to detect and treat potential treatment-associated complications. Spinalna mišična atrofija (SMA) je redka genetska bolezen, ki prizadene motorične nevrone, zaradi česar propadajo mišice ter se slabša splošno stanje bolnika. Do nedavnega vzročnega zdravljenja za SMA ni bilo, zato so bili bolniki popolnoma odvisni od podpornega zdravljenja in zgolj od vzdrževanja življenjskih funkcij. Danes so na voljo 3 zdravila: nusinersen, risdiplam in onasemnogen abeparvovek. Ker genska nadomestna terapija z zdravilom onasemnogen abeparvovek (Zolgensma®) pomeni nov mejnik v zdravljenju SMA, jo bo članek bolj podrobno predstavil, prav tako pa tudi prva dva bolnika s SMA, ki sta se z gensko nadomestno terapijo zdravila v Sloveniji. To gre hkrati tudi za prva dva primera uporabe genske nadomestne terapije za zdravljenje katere koli bolezni pri nas. S tem tudi dokazujemo, da je možno v Sloveniji bolnike varno in uspešno zdraviti z naprednimi terapijami, kar tudi zahteva ustrezno izobražen multidisciplinarni tim, ki zna prepoznati in zdraviti vse morebitne zaplete zdravljenja.