Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0027066 (myoclonus)
 4,275 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A case of an unknown type of familial presenile dementia is reported. The patient was a 56-year-old female, whose main clinical symptom was a gradually progressive dementia over 16 years. She had no myoclonus or periodic synchronous discharge in the EEG. The CT scans revealed marked cerebral atrophy with prominent atrophy of the cerebral white matter. One of her sisters is thought to suffer from the same disease, and is now in an apallic state. The patient was clinically diagnosed as having familial Alzheimer's disease. The neuropathological features consisted of severe cerebral cortical degeneration with conspicuous proliferation of gemistocytic astrocytes as well as severe cerebral white matter degeneration. These cerebral lesions are most similar to those of the panencephalopathic type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease (CJD). However, our case differs from it in that the cerebellar degeneration was very mild. Transmission experiments of frozen tissue from the patient into animals are being tried. The neurochemical data suggested cholinergic deficits. As far as we know, such a case has never been reported in the literature.
 ...
PMID:Familial presenile dementia with CJD-like lesions: preliminary results. 286 22

Mutations in the Neuroserpin gene have been reported to cause familial presenile dementia. We describe a new family in which the S52R Neuroserpin mutation is associated with progressive myoclonus epilepsy in 2 siblings. The proband presented myoclonus and epilepsy at age 24, his brother and mother presented a similar disorder when they were 25. A clinical diagnosis of progressive myoclonus epilepsy was made on the proband and his brother. Skin and liver biopsies did not reveal the presence of cytological alterations in the proband. His neurological status worsened over the subsequent 19 yr during which he became demented and had uncontrollable seizures. He died at 43 yr of age from aspiration pneumonia. Neuropathologically, eosinophilic bodies, which were positive for periodic acid-Schiff and immunoreactive with antibodies against human neuroserpin, were present in the perikarya and cell processes of the neurons. They were found in large numbers in the cerebral cortex and substantia nigra and to a lesser extent, in most subcortical gray areas, spinal cord, and dorsal root ganglia. By electron microscopy, the intracytoplasmic bodies were contained within the membranes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Occasionally neuroserpin immunopositivity was seen throughout the cytoplasm, even without the presence of well-defined bodies. Our study characterizes for the first time the neuropathologic phenotype associated with hereditary progressive myoclonus epilepsy caused by the S52R Neuroserpin mutation.
 ...
PMID:Neuroserpin mutation S52R causes neuroserpin accumulation in neurons and is associated with progressive myoclonus epilepsy. 1113 27

Hashimoto's encephalopathy may present with a variety of neurological symptoms and signs, including myoclonus, epileptic seizures, disturbance of consciousness, psychosis, ataxia, and presenile dementia. This report is of a 57-year-old woman with a history of thyroid disease who was investigated for generalised seizures, rapid decline in cognitive function, increasing dependency, and gradual change in personality. High thyroid autoantibody titres confirmed the diagnosis of Hashimoto's encephalopathy and her symptoms improved with treatment with prednisolone. The differential diagnosis of presenile dementia, aetiology and pathogenesis of Hashimoto's encephalomyelitis, and treatment options are discussed. Hashimoto's encephalomyelitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of presenile dementia, particularly in patients with a history of thyroid disease.
 ...
PMID:Presenile dementia: a case of Hashimoto's encephalopathy. 2183 55