title: Absence of small-vessel abnormalities in alternating hemiplegia of childhood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether Japanese patients with alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) have the similar small-vessel abnormalities in skin reported in European patients with AHC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electron microscopic observation of biopsied skin specimens were carried out in six Japanese patients with AHC. All patients (aged 5-17, all boys) had been diagnosed with AHC through their typical clinical courses and symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No abnormal findings in both endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells in skin small-vessels were obtained in the present study, either in the five flunarizine responders or in the one non-responder.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From our observations, we hypothesized that there may be some subtypes of AHC. The diverse clinical courses in patients with AHC and the differing efficacy of flunarizine treatment could be explained because of the heterogeneity of AHC subtypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), 4-1-1 Ogawahigashi-cho, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan. masasaki@ncnp.go.jp
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsufuji
authors.forename: Takehiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Inui
authors.forename: Kunimasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People; D001706:Biopsy; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000002:abnormalities*; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005444:Flunarizine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D005444:Flunarizine