title: Vacuolar leucoencephalopathy and pulvinar sign in association with coeliac disease.
abstract: Several neurological disorders have been associated with coeliac disease, including epilepsy, ataxia and neuropathy. Here we report a rare case of white matter disease in a 55-year-old man with coeliac disease. He presented with anxiety, headache and left upper limb jerking. He subsequently developed epilepsy and brain MRI revealed diffuse white matter abnormality. He died 6 months after presentation due to status epilepticus and sepsis. Brain biopsy demonstrated vacuolar leucoencephalopathy with no evidence of vCJD. An extensive clinical screen excluded infectious, inflammatory and para-neoplastic causes for this condition. Coeliac disease may be causally associated with vacuolar leucoencephalopathy in this case.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Cork University Hospital, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wan-Ahmed
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hardiman
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Sweeney