title: CSF tau protein is a useful marker for effective treatment of superficial siderosis of the central nervous system: two case reports.
abstract: We report two cases of superficial siderosis (SS) of the central nervous system (CNS), which is caused by chronic haemorrhaging into the subarachnoid space with haemosiderin deposition in the superficial portion of the CNS. Patient 1 had fluid collection in the spinal canal, which was reported as the source of the chronic bleeding. Patient 2 was bleeding from thickened dura at the level of the sacral vertebrae. Both of the patients had xanthochromic cerebrospinal fluid. We surgically repaired the sources of bleeding. Subsequently the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cleared and their symptoms were not aggravated for about 1 year. We measured several CSF markers of SS before and after surgery. Total tau protein (CSF-t-tau), phosphorylated tau protein (CSF-p-tau), iron (CSF-iron) and ferritin (CSF-ferritin) in the CSF were highly elevated at diagnosis. After surgery, the levels of CSF-t-tau and CSF-p-tau were markedly reduced while CSF-iron and CSF-ferritin had not decreased. It is suggested that CSF-t-tau and CSF-p-tau reflected the neural damage in SS and were useful to evaluate the effectiveness of SS therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurobiology of Aging, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan. tokuhei@med.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tokuhei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Noto
authors.forename: Moeko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noguchi-Shinohara
authors.forename: Kenjiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Chiho
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshita
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
authors.forename: Norio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kawahara
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwasa
authors.forename: Katsurou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D004401:Dysarthria / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D012806:Siderosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016875:tau Proteins; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron