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Neurology > Movement and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neuroacanthocytosis
Article Last Updated: Sep 14, 2006
AUTHOR AND EDITOR INFORMATION
Section 1 of 9
Author: Eric Dinnerstein, MD, Consulting Staff Neurologist, Maine Neurology
Eric Dinnerstein is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Neurology and American Medical Association
Coauthor(s):
Stephen A Berman, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Neurology, Dartmouth Medical School; Chief, Neurology Service, White River Junction Veterans Medical Center;
Maritza Arroyo-Muñiz, MD, Associate Program Director, Professor of Neurology, Department of Neurology, University of Puerto Rico
Editors: Roberta J Seidman, MD, Director of Neuropathology, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Stony Brook University Medical Center; Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine; Nestor Galvez-Jimenez, MD, Program Director of Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology, Division of Medicine, Director of Neurology Residency Training Program, Cleveland Clinic Florida; Matthew J Baker, MD, Consulting Staff, Collier Neurologic Specialists, Naples Community Hospital; Nicholas Y Lorenzo, MD, Chief Editor, eMedicine Neurology; Consulting Staff, Neurology Specialists and Consultants
Author and Editor Disclosure
Synonyms and related keywords:
chorea-acanthocytosis, Levine-Critchley syndrome, acanthocytosis, Bassen-Kornsweig disease, abetalipoproteinemia, familial hypobetalipoproteinemia, lipoprotein disorders, chorea-acanthocytosis McLeod syndrome, MLS, ChAc, McLeod syndrome, Huntington disease–like2, HDL2, pantothenate kinase–associated neurodegeneration, PKAN
Background
Neuroacanthocytosis is a group of phenotypically and genetically heterogenous neurologic disorders characterized by 2 types of problems, neurologic problems and acanthocytosis. Neurologic problems usually consist of either movement disorders or ataxia, personality changes, cognitive deterioration, axonal neuropathy, and seizures. At some point during the course of the disease, most patients manifest acanthocytosis on the peripheral blood smear, ie, a certain percentage of the patients' erythrocytes (typically 10-30%) have an unusual starlike appearance with spiky- or thorny-appearing projections.
There has been, and there continues to be, considerable disagreement about which specific diseases should be included under the general term neuroacanthocytosis. This is the understandable result of gradually accumulating knowledge of the molecular biological bases of these disorders.
The first form of neuroacanthocytosis to be well described in the medical literature is Bassen-Kornzweig disease, or abetalipoproteinemia (1950), which is an autosomal recessive abnormality of lipoprotein metabolism resulting in ataxia combined with acanthocytosis. In the early descriptions, Bassen-Kornzweig disease was compared with a better known condition, Friedreich ataxia. The two are rather similar except that patients with Bassen-Kornzweig disease have acanthocytosis. In fact, the term acanthocyte was originated by the authors of the seminal Bassen-Kornsweig paper.
The second type of neuroacanthocytosis was described in 1960 by Levine and later in 1968 by Critchley. Just as Bassen-Kornsweig disease looks much like Friedreich ataxia, the Levine-Critchley syndrome, as it came to be called, resembles Huntington disease (HD) with prominent choreiform or choreoathetoid movements, progressive dementia, and, in the original descriptions, autosomal dominant inheritance. One notable difference from HD is that Levine-Critchley syndrome manifests acanthocytosis. When it was originally described, it was also frequently compared with Bassen-Kornzweig disease in that both combined neurologic abnormalities with acanthocytosis but the Levine-Critchley syndrome had normal lipoproteins as well as a later age of onset. What today is recognized as the Levine-Critchley syndrome is caused by a mutation in a specific gene called chorein (also called VPS13A). Interestingly, it is not clear that the original cases reported by Levine and Critchley had that mutation.
Most genetic diseases for the term neuroacanthocytosis is appropriate exhibit phenotypes similar to either Bassen-Kornsweig disease or Levine-Critchley syndrome:
- Similar to Bassen-Kornsweig disease, ie, a hereditary lipoprotein disorder that causes a predominantly sensory ataxia involving the dorsal root ganglia and the ensuing spinocerebellar pathways and projections combined with acanthocytosis:
- Bassen-Kornsweig disease (abetalipoproteinemia)
- Familial hypobetalipoproteinemia
- Other lipoprotein disorders of uncertain significance
- Similar to Levine-Critchley syndrome, ie, a movement disorder with choreiform or Parkinsonlike features combined with dementia, various other neurologic abnormalities, and acanthocytosis:
- Chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc) McLeod syndrome (MLS)
- McLeod syndrome (MLS)
- Huntington disease–like2 (HDL2)
- Pantothenate kinase–associated neurodegeneration (PKAN)
- A number of individual cases and families have been reported that do not seem to fit the existing genetic patterns and which may represent new genetic syndromes yet to be elucidated or perhaps sporadic diseases.
Finally, a number of systemic diseases (usually sporadic) exist in which the combination of neurologic findings and acanthocytosis may actually be incidental. Examples of this type of neuroacanthocytosis include case reports of patients with hepatic encephalopathy, myxedema, or certain types of vasculitis who at some point in their disease show choreiform features plus acanthocytosis. It is not known why such diseases show these features as an occasional manifestation and, in the authors' opinion, it is not correct to call these diseases forms of neuroacanthocytosis per se. However, for the sake of completeness, diseases that have been known to occasionally exhibit features of neuroacanthocytosis will be listed.
Pathophysiology
Multisystem pathology is evident, including severe atrophy of the caudate and putamen with loss of small and medium-sized neurons and an associated astrocytic reaction. Less severe changes are seen in the pallidum.
Neuronal loss and mild gliosis can be seen in the thalamus, substantia nigra, and anterior horn of the spinal cord.
Acanthocytes are seen in peripheral blood smears. Creatine phosphokinase (CPK) level, and occasionally serum transaminases level, are elevated.
Serum vitamin E and lipoprotein levels typically are normal in the neuroacanthocytoses that do not involve abetalipoproteinemia or hypobetalipoproteinemia.
In the few cases for which neurochemical data are available, dopamine was decreased in almost the entire brain, norepinephrine levels were elevated in the putamen and globus pallidus, substance P levels were decreased in the striatum and substantia nigra, and serotonin levels were decreased in the caudate nucleus and substantia nigra. These findings are difficult to interpret because of severe caudate atrophy, concurrent medications, and small sample sizes.
Frequency
United States
Neuroacanthocytosis is a rare disease for which insufficient epidemiological data are available to draw conclusions about frequency.
Mortality/Morbidity
Reported causes of death include the following:
- Emaciation due to progressive weakness and dysphagia
- Tracheobronchial aspiration
- Suicide
Race
This disease has been reported in several races, but epidemiological data are insufficient to report prevalences.
Sex
Data are insufficient, but the condition may be more common in males than in females.
Age
Mean age of onset is 32 years (range, 8-62 y).
History
- Involuntary movements
- Chorea and dystonia, features of hyperkinetic movement disorders, are more frequent than tics and parkinsonism. Several of these disorders may be present simultaneously.
- Parkinsonism eventually may replace the hyperkinetic state.
- Orolingual dystonia causes eating problems, dysarthria, and dysphagia (ie, the tongue involuntarily pushes food out of the mouth).
- Personality changes occur, including impulsivity, distractibility, anxiety, depression, apathy, loss of introspection, and compulsivity.
- A peculiar gait is characterized by lurching with long strides and quick, involuntary knee flexion.
- Seizures, generally tonic-clonic (ie, grand mal), occur in 30-40% of patients; they are infrequent and relatively easy to treat.
Physical
- The following signs are observed, in order of frequency: chorea, dystonia (including eating dystonia), other orolinguofacial dyskinesias (with lip biting and dysarthria), vocal and/or motor tics, and parkinsonism.
- Subcortical dementia with executive skill problems of the frontal lobe has been reported.
- Executive skill problems include perseverative errors, excessive vulnerability to external intrusion, and inability to inhibit immediate and inappropriate responses to stimuli.
- Visuopraxic disorders, anomia, and verbal as well as nonverbal memory retrieval problems may be noted.
- Axonal neuropathy may present with the following signs:
- Decreased or absent deep tendon reflexes
- Muscle wasting (amyotrophy)
Causes
Each major type of neuroacanthocytosis appears to have its own basic etiology, ie, the specific gene in which a mutation is present. The known mutant genes are listed with their respective diseases below.
Huntington Disease
Parkinson Disease
Parkinson Disease in Young Adults
Parkinson-Plus Syndromes
Tourette Syndrome and Other Tic Disorders
Wilson Disease
Other Problems to be Considered
Bassen-Kornzweig disease (ie, abetalipoproteinemia)
Lab Studies
- Fresh blood smear for acanthocytes: Any level greater than 3% is abnormal; in neuroacanthocytosis, acanthocytes usually measure 10-30%. Liver disease, splenectomy, and hemolytic anemia must be excluded.
- Elevated creatine kinase
- Serum lipoproteins: In addition to the abetalipoproteinemia and hypobetalipoproteinemia, a case report of a patient with aprebetalipoproteinemia has also been documented. All the forms probably have not yet been discovered.
- Elevated liver enzyme levels
- Specific genetic tests
- Bassen-Kornsweig disease (abetalipoproteinemia) - MTP gene
- FHBL1 - APOB gene
- ChAc - Chorein (VPS13A)
- MLS - Kell blood group protein (XK)
- HDL2 - JPH3 gene
- PKAN - PANK2 gene
Imaging Studies
- Brain MRI - Caudate atrophy and increased signal in caudate and lentiform nuclei. In PKAN, a pallidal hypointensity with a central area of hyperintensity, named "eye of the tiger" sign, is observed. The hypointensity is due to iron deposition.
- Brain CT scanning - Caudate atrophy and ventricular dilatation (especially in the frontal horns of the lateral ventricles)
- Brain positron emission tomography - Hypometabolism in the neostriatum and the frontal cerebral cortical areas
- Brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) - Hypoperfusion in the neostriatum and frontal areas
Other Tests
- Electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction study (NCS) findings are consistent with chronic denervation and a primarily axonal peripheral neuropathy.
Medical Care
The betalipoprotein disorders of abetalipoproteinemia and the hypobetalipoproteinemias cause a malabsorption of vitamins, especially vitamin E and also vitamins A and K. Treating the patient with high doses of these vitamins, especially vitamin E, ameliorates, but does not completely cure, these diseases.
For the choreiform/parkinsonian group, no specific treatment exists for the primary diseases. No attempts have yet been made to systematically collect observations regarding response to drugs. For choreiform and choreoathetoid movements (hyperkinesias), antipsychotics, such as haloperidol (Haldol), are still helpful. Second-generation antipsychotics may also be used as well as other medications such as tetrabenazine and tiapride.
Parkinsonian symptoms may respond to dopaminergic agents such as carbidopa-levodopa, ropinirole, and pramipexole. However, such agents tend to worsen chorea and could not be used unless a given patient had predominantly parkinsonian features (such as may occur in PKAN). Tremor may respond nonspecifically to either cholinergic agents such as benztropine (Cogentin) or trihexyphenidyl (Artane) or to medications used for essential tremor such as beta-blockers or primidone. One can consider botulinum toxin injection in treating both dystonias, choreoathetoid movements, and tremor.
For possible epileptic seizures, carbamazepine, oxcarbamazepine, and gabapentin are reasonable options.
The treatment is not based on a fundamental understanding of the diseases, but treatment that may work to suppress the symptoms without undue side effects is tried.
Consultations
- Psychiatrist: Psychiatric evaluation is indicated to diagnose and treat depression and/or other psychiatric disorders.
- Nutritionist
Diet
- Maintain a balanced diet.
- Consultation with a nutritionist may be appropriate.
- In advanced cases, a soft diet and/or a GI feeding tube may become necessary.
Activity
- Typically, no restriction in activity is required until more advanced stages of the disease.
- Fall and balance precautions should be observed.
- In patients with advanced disease, walkers and/or wheelchairs may be appropriate.
No effective treatment exists. However, symptomatic treatment can be attempted.
In a recently described patient who presented with truncal tic as part of the symptoms of neuroacanthocytosis, the newly approved anticonvulsant, levetiracetam, was very helpful in controlling the tic. However, further studies are warranted to ensure that it is effective.
Drug Category: Antipsychotic agents
These agents improve psychiatric symptoms and may improve chorea.
| Drug Name | Haloperidol (Haldol) |
| Description | Useful in treatment of irregular spasmodic movements of limbs or facial muscles. |
| Adult Dose | 1-5 mg PO bid/tid; increase slowly to response; not to exceed 30 mg/d 2-5 mg IM q4-8h prn |
| Pediatric Dose | Not established |
| Contraindications | Documented hypersensitivity; narrow-angle glaucoma; bone marrow suppression; severe cardiac or liver disease; severe hypotension; subcortical brain damage; toxic CNS depression or comatose state |
| Interactions | May increase serum concentrations of TCAs; may increase hypotensive action of antihypertensive agents; phenobarbital or carbamazepine may decrease effects; concomitant anticholinergics may increase intraocular pressure; concurrent lithium associated with encephalopathylike syndrome |
| Pregnancy | D - Unsafe in pregnancy
|
| Precautions | May cause severe neurotoxicity manifesting as rigidity or inability to walk or talk in patients with thyrotoxicosis; if IV/IM, watch for hypotension; caution in CNS depression or cardiac disease; if history of seizures, benefits must outweigh risks; significant increase in body temperature may indicate intolerance (discontinue if it occurs); may produce neuroleptic malignant syndrome or severe cardiovascular disorders (due to hypotension or precipitation of angina pectoris); if patient has seizures, decrease threshold; may produce or worsen parkinsonian symptoms |
Drug Category: Acetylcholine (ACh) release inhibitor
This agent is effective in mandibular dystonia, thereby improving eating.
| Drug Name | Botulinum toxin type A (BOTOX®) |
| Description | Inject into mandibular muscles that are associated with dystonic movements. Treats excessive, abnormal contractions associated with blepharospasm. Binds to receptor sites on motor nerve terminals and inhibits release of ACh, which in turn inhibits transmission of impulses in neuromuscular tissue. Reexamine patients 7-14 d after initial dose to assess response. Increase doses 2-fold over previous dose for patients experiencing incomplete paralysis of target muscle, but do not repeat injection for at least 1 mo. |
| Adult Dose | 20-60 U IM |
| Pediatric Dose | Not established |
| Contraindications | Documented hypersensitivity |
| Interactions | Aminoglycosides or drugs that interfere with neuromuscular transmission may potentiate effects |
| Pregnancy | C - Safety for use during pregnancy has not been established.
|
| Precautions | Understand anatomy of area to be injected; do not exceed recommended dosages and frequencies of administration; presence of antibodies to botulinum toxin type A may reduce effects of therapy |
Prognosis
- Disease progression is poorly understood, and no cure exists.
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Neuroacanthocytosis excerpt Article Last Updated: Sep 14, 2006
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