Cerebellar cortical degeneration with ovarian carcinoma

A case is described of progressive cerebellar degeneration in association with ovarian carcinoma, with nearly 4 years elapsing between the onset of neurological illness and the discovery of the carcinoma. Neither treatment with prednisolone nor surgical removal of the tumour effected any improvement, CAT scanning late in the illness showed marked cerebellar atrophy. Histology at post-mortem showed complete loss of cerebellar Purkinje cells. The cerebrospinal fluid gave weak binding to multiple neural components in a solid-phase radio-immuno-assay.