Favorable response to rituximab in a patient with anti-VGCC-positive lambert-eaton myasthenic syndrome and cerebellar dysfunction

Muscle and Nerve

Volumn 40, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 305-308

  Pellkofer, Hannah L ^a   Voltz, Raymond ^a,b   Kuempfel, Tania ^a  

^a LUDWIG MAXIMILIANS UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

^b UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE   (Germany)

Author keywords

Cerebellar degeneration; LEMS; Rituximab; VGCC

Indexed keywords

3,4 DIAMINOPYRIDINE; AUTOANTIBODY; AZATHIOPRINE; FLUORODEOXYGLUCOSE; IMMUNOGLOBULIN; PYRIDOSTIGMINE; RITUXIMAB; STEROID; VOLTAGE GATED CALCIUM CHANNEL;

ADULT; ANAMNESIS; ARTICLE; B LYMPHOCYTE; CASE REPORT; CEREBELLUM DISEASE; CEREBROSPINAL FLUID ANALYSIS; CLINICAL FEATURE; DRUG WITHDRAWAL; EATON LAMBERT SYNDROME; HUMAN; LIMB WEAKNESS; MALE; MEDIAN NERVE; MUSCLE ACTION POTENTIAL; MUSCLE BIOPSY; NERVE STIMULATION; NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; PLASMAPHERESIS; POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SCORING SYSTEM; TREATMENT OUTCOME; WHOLE BODY CT;

ANTIBODIES, MONOCLONAL; CALCIUM CHANNELS; CEREBELLAR DISEASES; HUMANS; IMMUNOLOGIC FACTORS; LAMBERT-EATON MYASTHENIC SYNDROME; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PLASMA EXCHANGE;

EID: 67749089363     PISSN: 0148639X     EISSN: 10974598     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/mus.21315     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Baek WS, Bashey A, Sheean GL. Complete remission induced by rituximab in refractory, seronegative, muscle-specific, kinase-positive myasthenia gravis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2007;78:771. (Pubitemid 46998860)
2. Bain PG, Motomura M, Newsom-Davis J, Misbah SA, Chapel HM, Lee ML, et al. Effects of intravenous immunoglobulin on muscle weakness and calcium-channel autoantibodies in the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Neurology 1996;47:678-683. (Pubitemid 26307297)
3. Besinger UA, Toyka KV, Homberg M, Heininger K, Hohlfeld R, Fateh-Moghadam A. Myasthenia gravis: long-term correlation of binding and bungarotoxin blocking antibodies against acetylcholine receptors with changes in disease severity. Neurology 1983;33:1316-1321
4. Clouston PD, Saper CB, Arbizu T, et al. Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration. III. Cerebellar degeneration, cancer, and the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Neurology 1992;42:1944-1950.
5. Eaton LM, Lambert EH. Electromyography and electric stimulation of nerves in diseases of motor unit; observations on myasthenic syndrome associated with malignant tumors. JAMA 1957;163:1117-1124.
6. Edwards JC, Szczepanski L, Szechinski J, Filipowicz-Sosnowska A, Emery P, Close DR, et al. Efficacy of B-cell-targeted therapy with rituximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. N Engl J Med 2004;350:2572-2581. (Pubitemid 38758544)
7. Esposito M, Penza P, Orefice G, Pagano A, Parente E, Abbadessa A, et al. Successful treatment of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with rituximab. J Neurooncol 2008;86:363-364.
8. Fukuda T, Motomura M, Nakao Y, Shiraishi H, Yoshimura T, Iwanaga K, et al. Reduction of P/Q-type calcium channels in the postmortem cerebellum of paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Ann Neurol 2003;53:21-28. (Pubitemid 36083825)
9. Gold R, Stangel M, Dalakas MC. Drug insight: the use of intravenous immunoglobulin in neurology-therapeutic considerations and practical issues. Nat Clin Pract Neurol 2007;3:36-44. (Pubitemid 46056032)
10. Graus F, Lang B, Pozo-Rosich P, Saiz A, Casamitjana R, Vincent A. P/Q type calcium-channel antibodies in paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with lung cancer. Neurology 2002; 59:764-766.
11. Hauser SL, Waubant E, Arnold DL, Vollmer T, Antel J, Fox RJ, et al. HERMES Trial Group. B-cell depletion with rituximab in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. N Engl J Med 2008;358:676-688. (Pubitemid 351240747)
12. Klockgether T, Schroth G, Diener HC, Dichgans J. Idiopathic cerebellar ataxia of late onset: natural history and MRI morphology. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1990;53:297-305. (Pubitemid 20152009)
13. Lambert EH. Defects of neuromuscular transmission in syndromes other than myasthenia gravis. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1966;135:367-384.
14. Lennon VA, Kryzer TJ, Griesmann GE, et al. Calcium-channel antibodies in the Lambert-Eaton syndrome and other paraneoplastic syndromes. N Engl J Med 1995;332:1467-1474.
15. Lorenzoni PJ, Scola RH, Lang B, Kay CS, Teive HA, Kowacs PA, et al. Cerebellar ataxia in non-paraneoplastic Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. J Neurol Sci 2008;270:194-196.
16. Maddison P, Lang B, Mills K, Newsom-Davis J. Long term outcome in Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome without lung cancer. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2001;70:212-217. (Pubitemid 32127859)
17. Mason WP, Graus F, Lang B, Honnorat J, Delattre JY, Valldeoriola F, et al. Small-cell lung cancer, paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration and the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Brain 1997;120(Pt 8):1279-1300 (Pubitemid 27344700)
18. Monson NL, Cravens PD, Frohman EM, Hawker K, Racke MK. Effect of rituximab on the peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid B-cells in patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Arch Neurol 2005;62:258-264. (Pubitemid 40204747)
19. Motomura M. The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: a study of 110 Japanese cases. Rinsho Shinkeigaku 1999;39: 1237-1239. (Pubitemid 30249364)
20. Newsom-Davis J, Murray NM. Plasma exchange and immuno-suppressive drug treatment in the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. Neurology 1984;34:480-485. (Pubitemid 14127311)
21. O'Neill JH, Murray NM, Newsom-Davis J. The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. A review of 50 cases. Brain 1988;111(Pt 3):577-596.
22. Pinto A, Gillard S, Moss F, Whyte K, Brust P, Williams M, et al. Human autoantibodies specific for the alpha1A calcium channel subunit reduce both P-type and Q-type calcium currents in cerebellar neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1998;95: 8328-8333 (Pubitemid 28326112)
23. Shams'ili S, de Beukelaar J, Gratama JW, Hooijkaas H, van den Bent M, van't Veer M, et al. An uncontrolled trial of rituximab for antibody associated paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. J Neurol 2006;253:16-20.
24. Stüve O, Cepok S, Elias B, Saleh A, Hartung HP, Hemmer B, et al. Clinical stabilization and effective B-lymphocyte depletion in the cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood of a patient with fulminant relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Arch Neurol 2005;62:1620-1623. (Pubitemid 41434570)
25. Titulaer MJ, Verschuuren JJ. Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: tumor versus nontumor forms. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2008;1132:129-134.
26. Titulaer MJ, Wirtz PW, Kuks JB, Schelhaas HJ, van der Kooi AJ, Faber CG, et al. The Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome 1988-2008: a clinical picture in 97 patients. J Neuroimmunol 2008 (in press).
27. Vincent A, Lang B, Newsom-Davis J. Autoimmunity to the voltage-gated calcium channels underlies the Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, a paraneoplastic disorder. Trends Neurosci 1989;12:496-502. (Pubitemid 19278177)
28. Voltz R, Carpentier AF, Rosenfeld MR, Posner JB, Dalmau J. P/Q-type voltage-gated calcium channel antibodies in paraneoplastic disorders of the central nervous system. Muscle Nerve 1999;22:119-122. (Pubitemid 28564047)
29. Zaja F, Russo D, Fuga G, Perella G, Baccarani M. Rituximab for myasthenia gravis developing after bone marrow transplant. Neurology 2000;55:1062-1063. (Pubitemid 30764382)