Linker R A, Mohr A, Cepek L, Gold R, Prange H
Department of Neurology, Bereich Humanmedizin, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, D-37099 Goettingen, Germany.
Mult Scler. 2006 Feb;12(1):112-5. doi: 10.1191/135248506ms1268cr.
Hypothermia is a rare condition in multiple sclerosis (MS). We report on a patient with a long-standing secondary progressive MS and six episodes of recurring hypothermia down to 29.9 degrees C with associated hypotension, bradycardia, coagulopathy and electrolyte dysequilibrium. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated severe involvement of the corpus callosum with an associated lesion in the right posterior thalamus. These findings may link hypothermia in MS with callosal and associated thalamic pathology to Shapiro's syndrome, where agenesis of the corpus callosum and associated abnormalities are related to episodic spontaneous hypothermia. In MS, hypothermic episodes may be triggered by preceding infections, as shown in the present case.
