title: Multiple sclerosis with very late onset: a report of a case with onset at age 82 years and review of the literature.
abstract: This is a report of a patient with late-onset multiple sclerosis at age 82 years. The lesion involved was located on the spinal cord. Multiple sclerosis mainly affects young adults, making late onset of multiple sclerosis a rarity, particularly for cases after age 80 years. Common characteristics of late-onset multiple sclerosis reported in other publications are predominant involvement of the spinal cord and a progressively worsening course with a serious prognosis. In this case, magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large area of high signal intensity in the cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord on T2-weighted images. An increased immunoglobulin G level in cerebrospinal fluid also played a diagnostic role in ruling out cervical spondylotic myelopathy. Spontaneous improvement occurred 2 months after the onset. Unlike other patient described in the literature, the clinical course of this man was not as bleak.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Kudanzaka Hospital, Japan. ABERIKAN@aol.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kurosa
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shinomiya
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D011239:Prednisolone