title: Paraneoplastic opsoclonus: a neuropathologic study of two cases.
abstract: The association of opsoclonus and malignant neoplasia is infrequent. The clinical and neuropathological data of two patients in whom opsoclonus and ataxia developed 7 and 11 months before the detection of a bronchial carcinoma are reported. Loss of Purkinje cells, edema of dentate nucleus and peridental demyelination were the most important neuropathological findings; neither carcinomatous metastases nor inflammatory signs were found in the brain. From the review of the pathological reports of paraneoplastic opsoclonus, the following conclusions can be drawn: the changes in the cerebellum are produced by the paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration and are unrelated to the origin of opsoclonus, which has other anatomic substrates; paraneoplastic opsoclonus is a "remote effect" of cancer with an inflammatory basis, for which neurotoxic and immunological mechanisms have been hypothesized.
authors.affiliation: II Neurological Clinic, University of Turin, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Giordana
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soffietti
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schiffer
mesh_terms: D002283:Carcinoma, Bronchogenic / Q000150:complications; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000150:complications; D002524:Cerebellar Ataxia / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010257:Paraneoplastic Syndromes / Q000150:complications*; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000473:pathology; D012438:Saccades