Abstract
A case of mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD), who had aseptic meningitis and severe peripheral neuropathy was reported.
A fifty-years-old female was diagnosed as meningitis and treated with antibiotics and high dose corticosteroid. She was transferred to our hospital because of progressive pericardial effusion and elevation of myogenic enzymes. So anti RNP antibody was positive in her serum and cerebrospinal fluid, that she was diagnosed as MCTD. Pericarditis and consciousness disturbance were improved by corticosteroid therapy, but peripheral neuropathy remained. The histological findings of the sural nerve biopsy showed severe nerve fiber loss, thickening of muscle layer and endothelium of arterioles. In immunofluorescence study, IgM deposition was observed in endoneural interstitium. These findings suggested that humoral immunological mechanisms were involved in the pathogenesis of this peripheral neuropathy.
