Article Text

Download PDFPDF
210 CASPR2 antibody-related movement disorders: case series
  1. Mei See1,
  2. Varduhi Cahill2,
  3. Sangeeta Scotton3,
  4. Piers Newman4,
  5. Girija Sadalage2,
  6. Ajith Cherian5,
  7. KP Divya5,
  8. Saiju Jacob1,2
  1. 1University of Birmingham
  2. 2University Hospitals Birmingham
  3. 3Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals, NHS Trust
  4. 4Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust
  5. 5Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute, Trivandrum, India

Abstract

Introduction Contactin-associated protein 2 (CASPR2) antibodies are implicated in the development of a spectrum of neurological conditions where movement disorders constitute a substantial part of the clinical manifestations along with behavioral and cognitive impairment.

Case report We report a case series of three patients presenting with a variety of clinical phenotypes associated with choreoathetoid movement disorder, camptocormia and myoclonus. All three patients, in addition to motor manifestations, exhibited a degree of cognitive impairment. One patient was severely debilitated with florid choreoathetoid movements and prominent behavioral disturbance impacting upon daily living. In the other two patients, worsening camptocormia and myoclonus resulted in the loss of ambulation. Their atypical clinical manifestations necessitated an extensive diagnostic workup with the exclusion of neurodegenerative and paraneoplastic causes. Not uncommonly, the possibility of a functional neurological disorder was also raised. The diagnosis was reached with the detection of CASPR2 antibodies in serum and CSF. The causative relationship between CASPR2-antibodies and the clinical manifestations was further substantiated by the good response to immunological therapies including steroid treatment, intravenous immunoglobulin and therapeutic plasma exchange.

Conclusion The spectrum of CASPR2-associated movement disorders continues to rapidly expand. Increased awareness amongst clinicians is necessary for a timely diagnosis and treatment initiation.

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.