Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2013 Nov;84(11):1206-7.
doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2013-304993. Epub 2013 Apr 5.

Atypical Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis: ataxic hypersomnolence without ophthalmoplegia

Benjamin R Wakerley  1 , Derek Soon, Yee-Cheun Chan, Nobuhiro Yuki
Affiliations
Case Reports

Atypical Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis: ataxic hypersomnolence without ophthalmoplegia

Benjamin R Wakerley et al. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2013 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: Clinical and immunological evaluation of 'incomplete' Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis (BBE).

Methods: We studied two patients with postinfectious brainstem syndromes who presented at National University Hospital Singapore. Laboratory work-up included measurement of antiganglioside antibodies.

Results: Both patients displayed hypersomnolence and cerebellar-like ataxia in the absence of external ophthalmoplegia and carried high serum titres of IgG anti-GQ1b antibodies, strongly indicative of BBE.

Conclusions: Ophthalmoplegia can be absent or incomplete in BBE, and the absence of this clinical feature should not exclude BBE from the clinicians' differential. Such cases of incomplete BBE could be defined as 'ataxic hypersomnolence without ophthalmoplegia'.

Keywords: EYE MOVEMENTS; GUILLAIN-BARRE SYNDROME; IMMUNOLOGY; NEUROPATHY.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources