Heterogeneous findings in four cases of cerebellar ataxia associated with hypogonadism (Holmes' type ataxia)

Abstract

We report four sporadic cases of cerebellar ataxia associated with hypogonadism. All patients were female. The neurological symptoms appeared in the first three decades. Apart from ataxia, the most frequent features were nystagmus, dysarthria, mental impairment, brisk tendon reflexes, skeletal deformities, peripheral neuropathy, and tremor. Neuroimaging studies showed constant cerebellar atrophy, in some instances associated with involvement of either grey or white cerebral matter. Neurophysiological studies demonstrated an axonal neuropathy. Endocrine evaluation showed heterogeneity of the hypogonadism, which was hypogonadotrophic in one patient and hypergonadotrophic in the other three. One patient had partial deficiency of muscle cytochrome c oxidase. The syndrome appears to be a heterogeneous multisystem disorder and in some cases a mitochondrial metabolism deficiency could be suspected.