[Spongiform encephalopathy and multisystemic degeneration]

Onset of a neurological disease was coincidental in two members of a family. The mother died at the age of 57 and her daughter at the age of 27 years. Clinically the disease was manifested by cerebellar ataxia, visual disturbances, dystonic movements and intellectual impairment which appeared very later in the course of the disease in the younger patient. Myoclonus was only observed in the mother. The EEG examination revealed non-specific abnormalities. CT scans disclosed severe cerebellar atrophy and reduced size of the pons in the daughter. The duration of the disease was 7 months in the mother and 3 years in her daughter. The neuropathological examination showed degeneration of the thalamus, substantia nigra and inferior olives, together with loss of Purkinje cells and axonal torpedos in the granular layer of the mother. Olivopontocerebellar atrophy, atrophy of the thalamus and substantia nigra, associated to typical spongiform encephalopathy of the cerebral cortex, amygdaloid complex and striatum occurred in the daughter. These observations let us to comment whether multisystemic atrophies may be fortuitously associated to different prion-induced encephalopathies, or may be found in the context of spongiform encephalopathies.