Papilloedema and Autoimmune Retinopathy from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

A 33-year-old female presented with bilateral papilloedema and constricted visual fields from autoimmune retinopathy. She then developed a painful peripheral neuropathy that led to further work-up and the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Papilloedema and autoimmune retinopathy from systemic lupus erythematosus is a unique presentation.

Clinical spectrum of valosin containing protein (VCP)-opathy.

INTRODUCTION: Valosin containing protein (VCP) mutations cause a rare disorder characterized by hereditary inclusion body myopathy, Paget disease of bone (PDB), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with variable penetrance. VCP mutations have also been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2. METHODS: Review of clinical, serological, electrophysiological, and myopathological findings of 6 VCP-opathy patients from 4 unrelated families. RESULTS: Patients manifested muscle weakness between ages 40 and 53 years and developed predominant asymmetric limb girdle weakness. One patient had distal weakness at onset and co-existing peripheral neuropathy. Another patient had PDB, 1 had mild cognitive deficits, and 1 had FTD. All patients had myopathic and neurogenic electromyographic findings with predominant neurogenic changes in 2. Rimmed vacuoles were infrequent, while neurogenic changes were prominent in muscle biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: VCP-opathy is a multifaceted disorder in which myopathy and peripheral neuropathy can coexist. The electrophysiological and pathological neurogenic changes raise the possibility of coexisting motor neuron involvement. Muscle Nerve, 2015 Muscle Nerve 54: 94-99, 2016 Muscle Nerve 54: 94-99, 2016.

Myotonia associated with caveolin-3 mutation.

INTRODUCTION: Caveolin-3 is a major component of the caveolae in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Mutations in the caveolin-3 gene (CAV3) lead to a spectrum of clinical phenotypes including limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 1C, distal myopathy, rippling muscle disease, isolated hyperCKemia, and cardiomyopathy. CASE REPORT: A 24-year-old man with myalgia, muscle stiffness, and fatigue has normal strength and prominent myotonic discharges in the gastrocnemius. He also has epilepsy. He harbors a heterozygous CAV3 mutation, p.V57M. He has no mutations in CLCN1 and SCN4A, and he had normal genetic testing for myotonic dystrophy type 1 and type 2. CONCLUSIONS: Mutations in CAV3, and in particular p.V57M in CAV3, previously reported in isolated familial hyperCKemia, can be associated with electrical myotonia.

Myelopathy due to copper deficiency following gastrointestinal surgery.

BACKGROUND: Ataxic myelopathy due to copper deficiency has been described in ruminant animals and is called swayback. Neurological manifestations due to inherited copper deficiency secondary to the failure of intestinal copper absorption is well recognized as Menkes disease. The neurological consequences of acquired copper deficiency in humans are not well described. OBJECTIVE: To report 2 cases where patients developed a myelopathy with copper deficiency after gastrointestinal surgery.Patients Two patients developed a myelopathy many years after gastrointestinal surgery. Both had severe copper deficiency, which was the likely cause of the myelopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Acquired copper deficiency may present as a myelopathy. Gastrointestinal surgery and resulting decreased copper absorption may be causative.

Sporadic inclusion body myositis presenting with severe camptocormia.

Sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) is a slowly progressive idiopathic inflammatory myopathy. The characteristic early quadriceps and finger flexor muscle weakness often leads to the diagnosis of sIBM, especially when all canonical pathological features of sIBM are not present on muscle biopsy. Weakness of the paraspinal muscles, resulting in head drop and/or camptocormia, is a rare clinical finding along the course of sIBM, and even more rare as the presenting feature. We describe two patients with sIBM manifesting with camptocormia as the sole clinical manifestation for several years prior to the diagnosis by muscle biopsy. This observation emphasizes the role of sIBM in the etiology of camptocormia and the need to consider this common myopathy as a cause of weakness, despite the lack of classic quadriceps and finger flexor muscle weakness years after the onset of the paraspinal muscle weakness.

Glycine receptor autoimmune spectrum with stiff-man syndrome phenotype.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether glycine receptor α1 subunit-specific autoantibodies (GlyRα1-IgG) occur in a broader spectrum of brainstem and spinal hyperexcitability disorders than the progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus phenotype recognized to date, and to ascertain disease specificity. DESIGN: Retrospective, case-control study. SETTINGS: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and University of Barcelona, Spain. PATIENTS: Eighty-one patients with stiff-man syndrome phenotype, 80 neurologic control subjects, and 20 healthy control subjects. INTERVENTION: Glycine receptor α1-transfected cells to test serum or cerebrospinal fluid from cases and control subjects. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of GlyRα1-IgG positivity among stiff-man syndrome phenotype cases and control subjects. Comparison of GlyRα1-IgG seropositive and seronegative cases. RESULTS: Seropositive cases (12% of cases) included 9 with stiff-man syndrome (4 classic; 5 variant; 66% were glutamic acid decarboxylase 65-IgG positive) and 1 with progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus. Immunotherapy responses were noted more frequently in GlyRα1-IgG-positive cases (6 of 7 improved) than in seronegative cases (7 of 25 improved; P= .02). The single seropositive control patient had steroid-responsive vision loss and optic atrophy with inflammatory cerebrospinal fluid. CONCLUSIONS: Glycine receptor α1-IgG aids identification of autoimmune brainstem/spinal cord hyperexcitability disorders and may extend to the glycinergic visual system.

Stiff-man syndrome and variants: clinical course, treatments, and outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Little information is available about the incidence of stiff-man syndrome (SMS) (the classic form or its variants) or about long-term treatment responses and outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To comprehensively describe the characteristics of a cohort of patients with SMS. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. PATIENTS: Ninety-nine patients with classic SMS vs variants of the disorder, both glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 kD isoform (GAD65) antibody seropositive and seronegative. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Neurological, autoimmune, serological, and oncological findings; treatments; and outcomes between January 1984 and December 2008. RESULTS: The median follow-up duration was 5 years (range, 0-23 years). Seventy-nine patients (59 having classic SMS, 19 having partial SMS, and 1 having progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus [PERM]) were GAD65 antibody seropositive. Sixty-seven percent (53 of 79) of them had at least 1 coexisting autoimmune disease, and 4% (3 of 79) had cancer. GAD65 antibody values at initial evaluation were significantly higher among patients with classic SMS (median value, 623 nmol/L) than among patients with partial SMS (median value, 163 nmol/L) (P < .001). The initial GAD65 antibody value was positively correlated with the last follow-up Rankin score (P = .03). Among 20 patients who were GAD65 antibody seronegative (6 with classic SMS, 12 with partial SMS, and 2 with PERM), 15% (3 of 20) had at least 1 coexisting autoimmune disease, and 25% (5 of 20) had cancer (3 with amphiphysin autoimmunity and breast carcinoma and 2 with Hodgkin lymphoma). Excluding patients with PERM, all patients but 1 had sustained improvements with at least 1 γ-aminobutyric acid agent, usually diazepam; the median dosage for patients with classic SMS was 40.0 mg/d. Additional improvements occurred among 14 of 34 patients (41%) who received immunotherapy (intravenous immune globulin, azathioprine, prednisone, mycophenolate mofetil, or cyclophosphamide). Sixteen of 25 patients (64%) with extended follow-up duration remained ambulatory. CONCLUSIONS: Recognition of classic SMS vs variants is important because appropriate therapy improves symptoms in most patients. Classification by anatomical extent and by GAD65 antibody serostatus gives important diagnostic and prognostic information.