[Myxedematous cerebellar ataxia. Description of a case]

The case of a 64-year-old patient with a severe cerebellar ataxia of unknown origin, dating back at least three years, is described. The patient was diagnosed as suffering from hypothyroidism and after one month of replacement therapy with thyroxine there was complete remission both of the myxedema symptoms and of the cerebellar syndrome. The possible association between cerebellar ataxia and myxedema was thus confirmed. The writers stress the importance of identifying this uncommon clinical entity especially in view of the excellent results of thyroxine treatment.