Acquired sensorimotor polyneuropathy in an adolescent boy with primary intracranial sarcoma

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Acquired polyneuropathies (PN) are rare in childhood and adolescent. We report on a 15-year-old male patient who presented with progressive gait instability, ataxia, neuropathic pain, distal muscle weakness and progressive loss of ambulation. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) revealed a progressive demyelinating sensorimotor polyneuropathy predominantly of the lower limbs. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses revealed a cytoalbuminologic dissociation. Extensive diagnostic workup for autoantibodies and inflammatory markers was inconclusive. Corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulins did not affect. Cranial MRI revealed leptomeningeal enhancement of the cerebellum and the brainstem. Brain biopsy of the cerebellar lesions revealed an unclassifiable sarcoma. The patient was treated according to the CWS guidance study resulting in a decrease in enhanced lesion size. After two years NCS still revealed a demyelinating sensorimotor PN. This case report describes for the first time the clinical course of a chronic PN, putative paraneoplastic, associated with isolated unclassifiable CNS-sarcoma in an adolescent patient. Paraneoplastic pathogenesis should be considered in an unusual sequence of subacute progressive neurological symptoms even in children and adolescents.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)662-667
Number of pages6
JournalEuropean journal of paediatric neurology
Volume23
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2019
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 31105004

Keywords

Keywords

  • Juvenile primary intracranial sarcoma, Paraneoplastic neurological syndrome, Sensorimotor polyneuropathy in childhood