Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration

Introduction. Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is an immune-mediated and rapidly progressive cerebellar syndrome that develops as a result of a cross-immune response to the common antigens for the tumor and cerebellar cells. Timely diagnosis and treatment of PCD improves the functional status and survival of these patients.Objective. To analyze the clinical, laboratory and neuroimaging characteristics of PCD case series in comparison with literature data.Material and methods. 16 patients with PCD (13 women, 3 men) were examined. An assessment of the clinical presentation, brain MRI study, blood and cerebrospinal fl uid laboratory tests were carried out, the data of cancer search and patients follow-up were analyzed.Results. The median age of PCD patients was 55 years, the duration of the disease was 8.5 months (range 4 to 16 months). In 12 patients, PCD was the fi rst manifestation of cancer. The clinical prentation was presented by rapidly progressive cerebellar ataxia, often in combination with oculomotor disturbances, pyramidal and bulbar syndrome, hand tremor and dystonia. An associated cancers were detected in 13 patients (81%). Antineuronal antibodies were found in 14 patients (88%): anti-Yo-1, antibodies to amphiphysin, anti-Hu, anti-CV2 and anti-GAD. Mild atrophic changes of the cerebellum were found in 6 patients, and in 2 cases cerebellar hemiatrophy was observed.Conclusion. PCD is a rare disabling but potentially curable disease. The basis of diagnosis is the analysis of the clinical presentation and neuroimaging data, the detection of antineuronal antibodies and in fl ammatory changes in the cerebrospinal fl uid, as well as a thorough cancer search.