Clinical Reasoning: A Young Man With Subacute Onset of Spastic Paraparesis.

Leukodystrophies are a group of rare neurodegenerative disorders, usually presenting in infancy with a variable combination of cognitive, motor, and coordination impairment. Adult-onset cases are even more rare, often representing a diagnostic challenge even for experienced neurologists. Here, we present a case of a 44-year-old man with subacute and rapidly progressive spastic paraplegia, whose brain MRI revealed white matter abnormalities compatible with a diagnosis of leukodystrophy. We discuss how to apply a simplified diagnostic algorithm to distinguish acquired leukoencephalopathies from leukodystrophies and how to delve into the maze of genetic testing for white matter diseases. In our patient, we reached the diagnosis of a treatable disorder, whose early recognition is essential to prevent severe neurologic deterioration.

Elevated serum Neurofilament Light chain (NfL) as a potential biomarker of neurological involvement in Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1).

BACKGROUND: Cognitive and behavioural symptoms due to involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) are among the main clinical manifestations of Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1). Such symptoms affect patients' quality of life and disease awareness, impacting on disease prognosis by reducing compliance to medical treatments. Therefore, CNS is a key therapeutic target in DM1. Deeper knowledge of DM1 pathogenesis is prompting development of potential disease-modifying therapies: as DM1 is a rare, multisystem and slowly progressive disease, there is need of sensitive, tissue-specific prognostic and monitoring biomarkers in view of forthcoming clinical trials. Circulating Neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels have been recognized as a sensitive prognostic and monitoring biomarker of neuroaxonal damage in various CNS disorders. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study in a cohort of 40 adult DM1 patients, testing if serum NfL might be a potential biomarker of CNS involvement also in DM1. Moreover, we collected cognitive data, brain MRI, and other DM1-related diagnostic findings for correlation studies. RESULTS: Mean serum NfL levels resulted significantly higher in DM1 (25.32 ± 28.12 pg/ml) vs 22 age-matched healthy controls (6.235 ± 0.4809 pg/ml). Their levels positively correlated with age, and with one cognitive test (Rey's Auditory Verbal learning task). No correlations were found either with other cognitive data, or diagnostic parameters in the DM1 cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support serum NfL as a potential biomarker of CNS damage in DM1, which deserves further evaluation on larger cross-sectional and longitudinal studies to test its ability in assessing brain disease severity and/or progression.

Neurological Erdheim-Chester Disease Manifesting with Subacute or Progressive Cerebellar Ataxia: Novel Case Series and Review of the Literature.

Neurological involvement is relatively common in Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD), a rare clonal disorder of histiocytic myeloid precursors characterized by multisystem involvement. In ECD patients, neurological symptoms can occur either at onset or during the disease course and may lead to various degrees of neurological disability or affect patients' life expectancy. The clinical neurological presentation of ECD often consists of cerebellar symptoms, showing either a subacute or progressive course. In this latter case, patients manifest with a slowly progressive cerebellar ataxia, variably associated with other non-specific neurological signs, infratentorial leukoencephalopathy, and cerebellar atrophy, possibly mimicking either adult-onset degenerative or immune-mediated ataxia. In such cases, diagnosis of ECD may be particularly challenging, yet some peculiar features are helpful to address it. Here, we retrospectively describe four novel ECD patients, all manifesting cerebellar symptoms at onset. In two cases, slow disease progression and associated brain MRI features simulated a degenerative cerebellar ataxia. Three patients received a definite diagnosis of histiocytosis, whereas one case lacked histology confirmation, although clinical diagnostic features were strongly suggestive. Our findings regarding existing literature data focused on neurological ECD will be also discussed to highlight those diagnostic clues helpful to address diagnosis.

Clinical characteristics of metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in subjects with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1).

BACKGROUND: Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a rare inherited neuromuscular disease associated with insulin resistance, and its association with metabolically associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) has never been explored in prospective studies. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical features of MAFLD in DM1 patients. METHODS: We investigated the prevalence and the diagnostic features of MAFLD in a cohort of 29 outpatient fully characterized DM1 patients; afterward, we compared the selected cohort of DM1-MAFLD individuals with a propensity-matched cohort of non-DM1-MAFLD RESULTS: 13/29 (44.83%) DM1 patients received a clinical diagnosis of MAFLD. Compared to DM1 patients with normal liver, DM1-MAFLD individuals showed a higher male prevalence (p = 0.008), BMI (p = 0.014), HOMA score (p = 0.012), and GGT levels (p = 0.050). The statistical comparison showed that the DM1-MAFLD group had a more severe MAFLD according to the FIB4 score than non-DM1-MAFLD patients. This association of a more severe form of liver disease with DM1 remained significant after logistic regression analysis (OR: 6.12, 95% CI 1.44- 26.55).