Post-viral cerebellar ataxia
Post-viral cerebellar ataxia | |
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Cerebellum (Lower left) | |
Specialty | Neurology, Infectious disease |
Post-viral cerebellar ataxia also known as acute cerebellitis and acute cerebellar ataxia (ACA) is a disease characterized by the sudden onset of ataxia following a viral infection.[1] The disease affects the function or structure of the cerebellum region in the brain.
Symptoms and signs
Most symptoms of people with post-viral cerebellar ataxia deal to a large extent with the movement of the body. Some common symptoms that are seen are clumsy body movements and eye movements, difficulty walking, nausea, vomiting, and headaches.[citation needed]
Causes
Post-viral cerebellar ataxia is caused by damage to or problems with the
Diagnosis
Since the majority of ACA cases result from a post-viral infection, the physician’s first question will be to ask if the patient has been recently ill. From this point a series of exclusion tests can determine if the current state of ataxia is a correct diagnosis or not. A
Differential diagnosis
Differential diagnosis may include:[citation needed]
- Opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome
- Miller-Fisher syndrome
- Meningoencephalitis
- Cerebral abscess
- Tumor
- Hydrocephalus
- Inner-ear disease
- Acute vestibulitis
- Acute labyrinthitis
- Pneumonia
Treatment
Ataxia usually goes away without any treatment. In cases where an underlying cause is identified, medical treatment may be needed. In extremely rare cases, patients can have continuing and disabling symptoms. Treatment includes
Prognosis
People whose condition was caused by a recent viral infection should make a full recovery without treatment in a few months. Fine motor skills, such as handwriting, typically have to be practised in order to restore them to their former ability. In more serious cases, strokes, bleeding or infections may sometimes cause permanent symptoms.[citation needed]
History
Westphal reported the first documented case of post-viral cerebellar ataxia in 1872, where associations of reversible cerebellar syndrome were observed.[6] Another early case was documented in 1905. Batten described in detail cases of post-infectious cerebellar ataxia in five children. The cause of the disease was unknown until 1978 when Weiss and Guberman proposed that ACA could be due to direct invasion of the central nervous system by infectious agents. Since then many case studies have followed to understand the underlying conditions, symptoms and causes of the disease. The largest study of retrospective childhood ACA was done in 1994 by Connolly. This disease is still commonly used as a reference in clinical practice for other inflammatory and autoimmune disorders of the nervous system.[7]
See also
References
- S2CID 22942874.
- PMID 33013930.
In the case of Influenza infections, there is an extensive history of patients reporting a variety of CNS disorders which collectively suggested that Influenza virus is a potentially neurotropic virus and is capable of giving long-lasting neurological sequelae (116). Even some recent outbreaks and the 2009 "Swine Flu" pandemic also gave similar indications that neurological consequences are a much likely after-effect of Influenza infection (120, 121). Although being notorious for respiratory disease outcomes, their second most common disease manifestations are encephalitis and other CNS complications such as ataxia, myelopathy, seizures, and delirium, which usually appear after 1 week of respiratory symptoms of influenza.
- ^ Bergquist, Jennifer (September 12, 2005). "Childhood Ataxia" (PDF). University of Chicago. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
- PMID 32737799.
- ^
Khan; et al. (2021). "Clinical Spectrum of Neurological Manifestations in Pediatric COVID-19 Illness: A Case Series" (PDF). Journal of Tropical Pediatrics. 67 (3). PMID 34247238. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- PMID 8559202.
- S2CID 35425147.
Further reading
- http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/acute-cerebellar-ataxia/overview.html[full citation needed]
- https://web.archive.org/web/20111021044049/http://www.bettermedicine.com/article/cerebellar-ataxia-syndrome/symptoms%7B%7Bfull%7Cdate%3DAugust 2015
- MedlinePlus Encyclopedia: Acute cerebellar ataxia