July 2000: A 70 year old with rigidity, decreased ocular movements, and dementia

The July Case of the Month (COM): A 70 year old male presented with a four year history of cognitive decline, difficulty expressing himself, and an increasingly unsteady gait with numerous falls. At presentation he was wheel-chair bound. Examination showed some slowing of speech, mild memory impairment, but normal cranial nerves. Spastic weakness and brisk reflexes were also noted, with bilateral ankle clonus. MRI scans were normal. Four years later he was admitted with a urinary tract infection and was mute with severely impaired ocular motility. He died 18 months later and autopsy showed the classic neuropathological findings of typical Progressive supranuclear palsy, including tau-positive glial inclusions.