[Neurologic manifestations in Wolfram's syndrome]

Wolfram's syndrome, also known as DIDMOAD syndrome, includes juvenile diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy variously associated with diabetes insipidus and deafness. We describe the neurological findings in 5 patients with Wolfram's syndrome. All patients had a neurological examination and were subjected electrophysiological and brain imaging including CT scan and, in one patient, MRI. There were two pairs of brothers and a sporadic case with paternal consanguinity suggesting recessive inheritance. Neurological abnormalities were found in four patients including dysarthria, seizures, anosmia, nystagmus, ataxia and changes in the electroencephalograms, electroretinograms and evoked potentials. In contrast with previous reports, four patients had abnormal brain CT scan with prominent atrophy of the brainstem. In the patient studied with NMR, severe brainstem and cerebellar atrophy was found. These neuroradiological findings are reminiscent of those described in olivopontocerebellar atrophy and are in agreement with previous pathological studies. We conclude that Wolfram's syndrome includes phenotypical manifestations of olivopontocerebellar atrophy. This reinforces the opinion that olivopontocerebellar atrophy is a nonspecific syndrome of varied causes.