The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine
Online ISSN : 1349-3329
Print ISSN : 0040-8727
ISSN-L : 0040-8727
Case Reports
Effective Treatment with Levodopa and Carbidopa for Hypomyelination with Atrophy of the Basal Ganglia and Cerebellum
Keisuke WakusawaKazuhiro HaginoyaTaro KitamuraNoriko TogashiMamiko IshitobiHiroyuki YokoyamaShuichi HiganoAkira OnumaTakahiro NaraKazuie Iinuma
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2006 Volume 209 Issue 2 Pages 163-167

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Abstract

Hypomyelination with atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum (H-ABC) is a rare leukoencephalopathy presenting in the infantile period and characterized by diffuse cerebral hypomyelination, and atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum. As patients with H-ABC lack remarkable laboratory findings, the diagnosis is based on brain magnetic resonance imaging findings alone. Only eight cases have been reported in the literature, and thus the natural course and treatment of this disease are not fully understood. We report a 35-month-old boy with H-ABC who had hemidystonia, hypomyelination, and cerebellar ataxia. We diagnosed H-ABC after considering a thorough differential diagnosis, excluding other diseases involving hemidystonia, hypomyelination, and cerebellar ataxia. Furthermore, technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate dimmer-single-photon emission computerized tomography (Tc-ECD-SPECT) and positron emission tomography with fluorodeoxyglucose 18F (FDG-PET) revealed decreased blood flow and glucose metabolism in the bilateral lenticular nucleus, thalamus, and cerebellum. A peroral levodopa preparation containing carbidopa (levodopa-carbidopa) was effective at ameliorating and stopping the progression of the patient's dystonia (final effective doses: levodopa, 200 mg/day and carbidopa, 20 mg/day). This is the first case report of a Japanese patient with H-ABC and treatment for this disease. Levodopa-carbidopa may be an effective treatment for H-ABC.

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© 2006 Tohoku University Medical Press
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