Neuropsychological recovery following acute cerebellar ataxia

Acute Cerebellar Ataxia (ACA) is not infrequent disorder in childhood characterized by sudden onset of such cerebellar signs as truncal ataxia, dysmetria, tremors, nystagmus, and hypotonicity. Despite the suggestion in the literature that children who have suffered from ACA may continue to have neurological deficits, there have not been any attempts to address systematically and quantitatively the nature and frequency of dysfunction in the cognitive and motor domains. To this end, 15 patients with a discharge diagnosis of ACA at Children's Hospital of Michigan were administered a Wechsler Intelligence Scale, visual-spatial tests, achievement tests, and a test of motor speed, targeting, and finger dexterity (the Purdue Pegboard). Results indicated that higher level cognitive functions, including those in the linguistic and visual-perceptual domain, remained intact. In addition, the distribution of academic achievement scores was not markedly atypical. However, Purdue Pegboard performances in the majority of patients were notably impaired. Correlations among cognitive variables and such variables as age at onset and length of hospitalization were nonsignificant: no adequate prognostic indicators were ascertained. The implications of the results for theories of cerebellar plasticity or lack thereof are commented upon.