Kim Seong-Ik, Jeon Beomseok, Bae Jeongmo, Won Jae Kyung, Kim Han-Joon, Yim Jeemin, Kim Yun Joong, Park Sung-Hye
Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea.
Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea.
Exp Neurobiol. 2019 Feb;28(1):119-129. doi: 10.5607/en.2019.28.1.119. Epub 2019 Feb 28.
Adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP) is a progressive degenerative white matter disorder caused by mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of the gene. ALSP is often misdiagnosed as other diseases due to its rarity and various clinical presentations such as Parkinsonism, pyramidal signs, cognitive impairment and/or psychiatric symptoms. We describe an autopsy case of ALSP with a mutation. A 61-year-old woman presented insidious-onset gait difficulty for 12 years since her age of 49, and premature ovarian failure since her age of 35. At initial hospital visit, brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed hydrocephalus. Initially, Parkinson's syndrome was diagnosed, and she was prescribed L-dopa/carbidopa because of spasticity and rigidity of extremities, which had worsened. Subsequently, severe neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairment developed and radiologically, features of leukoencephalopathy or leukodystrophy were detected. She showed a down-hill course and died, 12 years after initial diagnosis. At autopsy, the brain showed severe symmetric atrophy of bilateral white matter, paper-thin corpus callosum, thin internal capsule, and marked hydrocephalus. Microscopically, diffuse loss of white matter, relatively preserved subcortical U-fibers, and many eosinophilic bulbous neuroaxonal spheroids were noted, but there was no calcification. Pigmented glia with brown cytoplasmic pigmentation were readily found in the white matter, which were positive for Periodic acid-Schiff, p62, and CD163 stains, but almost negative for CD68. Whole-exome and Sanger sequencing revealed a mutation (c.2539G>A, p.Glu847Lys) which was reported in prior one ALSP case. This example demonstrates that ALSP could be associated with premature ovarian failure.
成人起病的轴突球状体和色素性胶质细胞性白质脑病(ALSP)是一种由该基因酪氨酸激酶结构域突变引起的进行性退行性白质疾病。由于其罕见性以及帕金森综合征、锥体束征、认知障碍和/或精神症状等多种临床表现,ALSP常被误诊为其他疾病。我们描述了一例携带突变的ALSP尸检病例。一名61岁女性自49岁起出现隐匿性步态困难达12年,35岁起出现卵巢早衰。初次就诊时,脑磁共振成像显示脑积水。最初诊断为帕金森综合征,因肢体痉挛和僵硬加重而给予左旋多巴/卡比多巴治疗。随后出现严重的神经精神症状和认知障碍,影像学检查发现白质脑病或脑白质营养不良的特征。她病情呈进行性恶化,在初次诊断12年后死亡。尸检时,大脑显示双侧白质严重对称性萎缩、胼胝体薄如纸、内囊变薄以及明显脑积水。显微镜下可见白质弥漫性缺失、皮质下U形纤维相对保留以及许多嗜酸性球状神经轴突球状体,但无钙化。在白质中很容易发现有棕色细胞质色素沉着的色素性胶质细胞,其对过碘酸希夫染色、p62和CD163染色呈阳性,但对CD68几乎呈阴性。全外显子测序和桑格测序显示一个突变(c.2539G>A,p.Glu847Lys),该突变曾在之前一例ALSP病例中报道过。这个例子表明ALSP可能与卵巢早衰有关。