Mechanical ventilation and cardioprotective therapy have significantly improved the prognosis and quality of life of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). The incidence of congestive heart failure is on declining trend by meticulous care. Meanwhile, elongation of decreased cardiac function can provoke instability in circulation. Recently, we experienced six DMD patients who died from acute renal failure with preserved cardiac function (brain natriuretic peptide: BNP <100pg/ml, fractional shortening: FS >15% and left ventricular diameter: LVD <50mm). In some patients, hypovolemia induced by low water intake, diarrhea or dose-up of diuretics was thought to be a trigger of renal failure. Since the value of creatinine (Crnn) decreased in amyotrophic patients, we evaluated renal function in 103 patients with DMD using cystatin C (CysC), which is a sensitive renal marker and unaffected by muscle volume. In addition, we assessed β2-microglobulin (b2MG) in 24 patients, because it is also unaffected by muscle volume. The correlation between logarithm of CysC (LogCysC) and logarithm of b2MG was quite high (r=0.954), though that between LogCysC and logarithm of Crnn was not adequate (r=0.623). The average of CysC increased along with age, and more than 30% of patients over 30 years old showed abnormal values. Hemoglobin and logCysC was also negatively associated (r=-0.519), and patients with hemoglobin less than 10g/dl showed elevated values of CysC. Cardiac indices such as FS (r=-0.250) and logarithm of BNP (r=0.319) showed weak correlations with logCysC, though significant correlation was not detected between LVD and LogCysC. Since renal dysfunction is a common complication in advanced stage of DMD patients, proper managements of water balance and anemia is important. In the medical managements for DMD, we should pay attention to cardiac-renal-anemia association.

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To clarify the features of the eye movement disturbance in the patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA), we retrospectively examined chronological changes of 9 oculomotor parameters as described below in 50 MSA patients including 12 autopsied cases. Patients with MSA were consisted of 35 patients with cerebellar ataxia-preceding type and 15 patients with parkinsonism-preceding type. Nine parameters include saccade test, eye tracking test, positioning/positional/gaze/caloric nystagmus tests, and visual suppression test. Each parameter was evaluated by three categories; normal and the two abnormal findings according to their characteristic features. In all of the 9 parameters, no significant differences were found between the cerebellar ataxia- and the parkinsonism-preceding types of MSA both in the early (disease duration less than 3 years) and in the advanced stages (duration between 8 to 11 years). From the chronological analysis, 9 oculomotor parameters could be divided into three groups: the first group with the higher frequency of the abnormality from the early stage, the second with gradual increase of the frequency, and the third with less increased frequency even in the advanced stage. We here focused on the three representatives corresponding with the above-described each group; positioning nystagmus test mainly showing downbeat nystagmus as a first group, visual suppression test showing a qualitative change from depressed into increased response as the second, and the caloric nystagmus test showing decreased response as the third. Based on these chronological changes of the oculomotor parameters, we supposed that in MSA the dorsal vermis is involved at first, followed by the flocculus in the cerebellum, and then the degenerative lesions might expand to the vestibular nucleus, and the cerebral cortex including the vestibular cortex.

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We report a 45-year-old man with myositis associated with clonal expansion of γδ T cells. He was referred to our hospital because of slowly progressive (over 10 years) muscle weakness. On neurological examination, weakness and muscle atrophy were noted in the proximal upper and lower limbs. The level of creatinine kinase (CK) was 1,436U/L. Neutropenia and monoclonal gammopathy were found in the peripheral blood. Flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood and bone marrow revealed proliferation of CD3⁺CD4^-CD8⁺ and CD3⁺CD4^-CD8^- γδ T cells, and Southern blotting demonstrated a clonally rearranged T-cell receptor Jγ gene in peripheral blood and bone marrow. A biopsy of the right quadriceps muscle showed variations in muscle fiber size, and endomysial mononuclear cell infiltration. The expression of MHC Class I antigen was increased on the surfaces of most of muscle fibers, and TCRδ1 positive-lymphocytes invaded nonnecrotic muscle fiber.
After starting treatment with cyclosporin A and steroids, his muscle weakness gradually ameliorated, the CK level decreased and neutrophils increased. Although reports of myositis associated with clonal expansion of γδ T cells are extremely rare, the present case suggests that γδ T cells might play a role in mediating myositis.

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A 29-year-old man developed muscle weakness in the neck at age 27. An increasing serum creatine kinase (CK) activity was detected. The first examination at our hospital revealed severe muscular atrophy at the front of the neck. Subsequently, muscular atrophy and weakness developed in the shoulders and upper extremities with an increasing serum CK level, which reached 9,159IU/l. Needle electromyography (EMG) was not able to reveal typical myopathic change represented low-amplitude motor unit potentials (MUPs) in the proximal parts of the upper and lower extremities at the first examination, but in the course of the disease, the MUPs amplitude decrease in the same muscles. Serum examination gave a positive result for anti-signal recognition particle (SRP) antibodies. A biopsy of the deltoid muscle revealed necrotizing myopathy including small angular fiber-like atrophy without inflammatory cell infiltration or fibrotic proliferation. He was treated with prednisolone and tacrolimus with the diagnosis of polymyositis. The charcteristic feature in this patient is that muscular atrophy and weakness were mainly observed in the neck. Moreover, the neurogenic changes on EMG in the early stage are also observed on atypical. Polymyositis with anti-SRP antibodies has the distinctive feature of typical polymyositis with cellular infiltration clinically and pathologically. In this respect, this case has striking and suggestive features of polymyositis with anti-SRP antibodies.

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A 56-year-old woman had been experiencing episodic left eye pain followed within 3 days by double vision and adduction of the left eye since the age of 30. The episodes occurred once per month, and her symptoms spontaneously resolved within 3 days. The patient was diagnosed with ophthalmoplegic migraine (OM) with left abducens nerve palsy at the age of 53 years. In May 2011, she developed bilateral retro-orbital pain followed by double vision and limitation of abduction of the right eye. She recalled having a cold and high fever 10 days before the onset of the headache. MRI showed no thickening or enhancement of the right abducens nerve. Constructive interference in steady-state (CISS) MRI showed neurovascular contact between the right abducens nerve and anterior inferior cerebellar artery. Right abducens nerve palsy accompanied by OM was diagnosed after other diseases that can cause ophthalmoplegia were excluded. The patient's eye symptoms gradually improved following steroid treatment. There have been a few similar case reports of adult patients with OM showing left and right abducens nerve palsy at different time points. In this case report, we discuss the possible mechanisms related to OM.

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Bilateral abducens nerve palsy is an unusual clinical presentation, which could be caused by stroke, aneurysm, trauma and malignant neoplasm. We describe here a patient with bilateral abducens nerve palsy caused by large B cell lymphoma originated from clivus. An 83-year-old woman admitted to our hospital because of diplopia and severe posterior neck pain. Her diplopia developed one month before and progressed to her admission. Neurological examination revealed bilateral abducens nerve palsy. Brain MRI with enhancement lesion in the clivus, suggesting that bilateral petroclival segment of the abducens nerves were affected by the lesion. Biopsied was performed via a transsphenoidal approach, and histological diagnosis was made as diffuse large B cell lymphoma. She received oral corticosteroid administration combined with radiation therapy. After initiation of the treatment, posterior neck pain was resolved and tumor size was reduced in the repeated brain MRI. However, diplopia and bilateral abducens nerve palsy were still unresolved. Although malignant lymphoma originated at the clivus is uncommon, according to a presenting case as well as previously reported cases, lymphoma can present as an isolated involvement in the clivus associated with headache, and bilateral abducens nerve palsy. It is suggested that the clivus tumor affected the petroclival segment of abducent nerve in our case.

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A 55-year-old woman with a 3-year and 4-month history of liver metastasis from breast cancer underwent chemotherapy with capecitabine and cyclophosphamide for following 10-months. She did not have hypertension and was not pregnant. She showed dysarthria and mild somnolence, and her conscious level developed to semicoma after 6 days. She had pyrexia. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) demonstrated increased cell-count and elevated protein but no evidence of positive cytological finding and cultivation of bacteria was found in the CSF. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed multiple lesions with hyperintensity in the brain stem, bilateral middle cerebellar peduncles, left splenium of corpus callosum, bilateral basal ganglia, bilateral thalami, bilateral corona radiata, and bilateral subcortical white matters of parietal lobes on the T₂ weighted and fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images. These lesions demonstrated mild hyperintensity on the diffusion weighted images but did not demonstrate hypointensity on the T₁ weighted images. Capecitabine and cyclophosphamide were discontinued at 4th day after onset of symptoms, and her conscious disturbance showed improvement slowly since day 12 after cessation of these drugs and hyperintensity areas detected on FLAIR image of MRI showed decreasing intensity after three weeks of onset. Capecitabine is an oral prodrug converted to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). 5-FU and cyclophosphamide are known to induce leukoencephalopathy. Reversible multiple lesions with leukoencephalopathy on brain MRI which is called as a posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). Capecitabine is also reported to induce PRES in rare cases. Combination of these drugs was considered for the possible cause to induce leukoencephalopathy like PRES. Usually leukoencephalopathy occurs in relatively early time after start of chemotherapy with capecitabine or cyclophosphamide, but we consider that late-onset leukoencephalopathy can be induced by long-term chemotherapy with these drugs. It is necessary to observe leukoencephalopathy by brain MRI regularly when these drugs are used.

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A 70-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with visual loss, dysesthesia, gait disturbance, and urinary retention. A pacemaker was implanted 1 year ago for atrioventricular conduction block. Neurologic examination revealed mild cognitive impairment, near blindness with vitreous opacity, diffuse muscle weakness, loss of all sensory modalities with areflexia, and orthostatic hypotension. Head CT showed hydrocephalus. The Congo red staining of vitrectomized specimen and the biopsied sural nerve showed amyloid depositions. Gene analysis disclosed Val30Met missense mutation of transthyretin, which is responsible for familial amyloid polyneuropathy. His bed-ridden brother also had severe urinary dysfunction and orthostatic hypotension with hydrocephalus on MRI. These two sibling cases suggest correlation of the transthyretin Val30Met mutation with hydrocephalus, a rare phenotype of this disease.

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