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Case Reports
. 2010 Dec 13:2010:bcr0520103021.
doi: 10.1136/bcr.05.2010.3021.

Stiff-person syndrome treated with rituximab

Marcelo Evangelista Lobo  1 , Marx Lincoln Barros Araújo, Carlos Alberto Bezerra Tomaz, Nasser Allam
Affiliations
Case Reports

Stiff-person syndrome treated with rituximab

Marcelo Evangelista Lobo et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) is a rare neurological condition consisting of progressive and fluctuating rigidity of the axial muscles combined with painful spasms. The pathophysiology of SPS is not fully understood, but there seems to be an autoimmune component. The use of rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody targeting CD20 protein in the surface of mature B cells, for the treatment of SPS is a recent therapeutical approach showing promising results. The authors present a case report of a 41-year-old female patient diagnosed with SPS who was treated with rituximab in a public hospital in Brasília, Brazil, showing a good and safe response to the treatment so far. Our data go along with some recent articles published in the literature.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Eletroneuromyography of the right rectus abdominal muscle before treatment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Eletroneuromyography of the right rectus abdominal muscle 16 days after the first rituximab infusion.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Serum dosage of Anti-GAD Antibodies. First infusion was 26 Jan 2009 and second infusion was 12 Feb 2009.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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