A 46-year-old female presented progressive hand tremor at age of 8, associated to cognitive and motor deterioration. She developed incapacitating head tremor and was wheelchair-bound 12 years after onset. Premature ovarian failure (POF) occurred at 27-year-old. In the last 3 years, head tremor became less intense, but she remained with horizontal bidireccional nistagmus.
Vanishing white matter disease (VWMD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by cerebellar ataxia, spasticity, and cognitive impairment11. Knaap MS, Kamphorst W, Barth PG, Kraaijeveld CL, Gut E, Valk J. Phenotypic variation in leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter. Neurology. 1998;51(2):540-7.,22. Costello DJ, Eichler AF, Eichler FS. Leukodystrophies: classification, diagnosis, and treatment. Neurologist. 2009;15(6):319-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NRL.0b013e3181b287c8
https://doi.org/10.1097/NRL.0b013e3181b2...
. Brain MRI discloses symmetric and diffuse white matter lesions (figure). VWMD manifests from infancy to adulthood; in female, POF may occur33. Schiffmann R, Tedeschi G, Kinkel RP, Trapp BD, Frank JA, Kaneski CR et al. Leukodystrophy in patients with ovarian dysgenesis. Ann Neurol. 1997;41(5):654-61.. It is caused by mutations in both alleles of one of five genes coding for subunits of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B.
References
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1Knaap MS, Kamphorst W, Barth PG, Kraaijeveld CL, Gut E, Valk J. Phenotypic variation in leukoencephalopathy with vanishing white matter. Neurology. 1998;51(2):540-7.
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2Costello DJ, Eichler AF, Eichler FS. Leukodystrophies: classification, diagnosis, and treatment. Neurologist. 2009;15(6):319-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NRL.0b013e3181b287c8
» https://doi.org/10.1097/NRL.0b013e3181b287c8 -
3Schiffmann R, Tedeschi G, Kinkel RP, Trapp BD, Frank JA, Kaneski CR et al. Leukodystrophy in patients with ovarian dysgenesis. Ann Neurol. 1997;41(5):654-61.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Jan 2015
History
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Received
04 Aug 2014 -
Reviewed
02 Sept 2014 -
Accepted
22 Sept 2014