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Case Reports
. 2021 Oct;28(10):3533-3536.
doi: 10.1111/ene.14726.

Acute cerebellar ataxia and myoclonus with or without opsoclonus: a para-infectious syndrome associated with COVID-19

Cendrine Foucard  1 , Aurore San-Galli  2 , Clément Tarrano  1   3   4 , Hugo Chaumont  2   4   5 , Annie Lannuzel  2   4   5   6 , Emmanuel Roze  1   3   4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Acute cerebellar ataxia and myoclonus with or without opsoclonus: a para-infectious syndrome associated with COVID-19

Cendrine Foucard et al. Eur J Neurol. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Patients with COVID-19 can have central or peripheral neurological manifestations.

Methods: The cases of two patients with acute cerebellar ataxia and myoclonus associated with COVID-19 are reported (with Video S1) and five previously reported patients are discussed.

Results: Acute cerebellar ataxia and myoclonus started between 10 days and 6 weeks after the first manifestations of COVID-19. Opsoclonus or ocular flutter was present in four patients. Patients were treated with intravenous immunoglobulins and/or steroids except for one patient, resulting in a striking improvement within a week.

Conclusion: Acute cerebellar ataxia and myoclonus with or without opsoclonus belongs to the wide spectrum of neurological manifestations associated with COVID-19. It is important to recognize this possible manifestation since early treatment allows for rapid recovery.

Keywords: SARS-COV-2; encephalopathy; immune-mediated disorder; movement disorders; para-infectious.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest in connection with this article.

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