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Updated: Dec 31, 2025
Induction of Paralysis and Visual System Injury in Mice by T Cells Specific for Neuromyelitis Optica Autoantigen Aquaporin-4
Published on: August 21, 2017
Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder with massive basal ganglia involvement: a case report
Shinji Ohara1,2, Taka-Aki Miyahira3, Kenya Oguchi3
1Department of Neurology, Matsumoto Medical Center, Minami 2-20-30, Matsumoto, 399-8701, Japan. shinji.ohara@iida.or.jp.
Background:
Occurrence of basal ganglia involvement in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) has rarely been reported and none documented pathologically.
Case Presentation:
A 73-year-old female was clinically diagnosed with a NMOSD based on the clinical and radiological features and positive serum autoantibodies to AQP4. One month before her death, she became acutely ill with disturbed consciousness and right hemiparesis, and was diagnosed and treated as having basal ganglia infarction based on the brain CT. She made a partial recovery but later died from heart failure. At autopsy, the corresponding basal ganglia process revealed a large fresh area of necrosis. Histologically, several pathological signatures of NMOSD could be recognized in the lesion, including inflammatory cell infiltrations by B and T lymphocytes, perivascular complement and fibrinogen deposition, and the appearance of numerous phagocytosed corpora amylacea within the infiltrating macrophages.
Conclusions:
The present case illustrates that basal ganglia may be directly involved in the pathological processes of NMOSD, although the possibility of modification of the lesions by superimposed regional ischemia could not be excluded.
