[A patient with focal bi-parietal atrophy presenting motor clumsiness and cortical sensory loss].
We report a 73-year-old woman who presented progressive motor clumsiness, cortical sensory loss, and focal parietal lobe atrophy. She was well until one year prior to the present admission when she suffered from what appeared to be mild Fisher syndrome from which she showed excellent recovery. However, soon she noted a gradual onset of difficulty in hand movements and in the recognition of objects by hands. Neurologic examination revealed an alert and well oriented Japanese woman without dementia. Cranial nerves were unremarkable. Although, she did not have aphasia, apraxia, or agnosia, she showed marked clumsiness in skilled hand movements such as using chopsticks, hand writing, and buttoning. She had no motor weakness, ataxia, rigidity, or spasticity. Deep tendon reflexes were symmetrically diminished. Sensory examination revealed cortical sensory loss such as disturbances of two point discrimination, weight sensation, and stereotactic sensations. Her motor clumsiness appeared to be caused by her cortical sensory loss. MRI revealed marked focal atrophy in the bilateral parietal lobe, particularly in the postcentral gyrus and the adjacent association areas. Recently, neurodegenerative disorders with focal brain atrophy such as corticobasal degeneration, Pick's disease, and dementia of frontal lobe type have been reported, however, our patient does not fit to any of these known disorders nor clinical features are distinctly different from Alzheimer's disease. Our patient may be another example of progressive cerebral degeneration with emphasis on the parietal cortex.
Department of Neurology Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo.
S
S
Sato
N
N
Hattori
H
H
Matsumine
H
H
Imai
Y
Y
Mizuno
D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000209:etiology*