Prognosis
Generally, patients tend to deteriorate over time, but prognosis varies with the SMA type and disease progress which shows a great degree of individual variability.
The majority of children diagnosed with SMA type 0/I do not reach the age of 10, recurrent respiratory problems being the primary cause of morbidity. With proper care, milder SMA type I cases have lived into adulthood.
In SMA type II, the course of the disease is stable or slowly progressing and life expectancy is somewhat reduced compared to the healthy population, although patients usually live to become parents and grandparents.
SMA type III has normal or nearly normal life expectancy if standards of care are followed. Adult-onset SMA usually means only mobility impairment and does not affect life expectancy.
Read more about this topic: Spinal Muscular Atrophy