Acute cerebellar ataxia: differential diagnosis and clinical approach

ABSTRACT Cerebellar ataxia is a common finding in neurological practice and has a wide variety of causes, ranging from the chronic and slowly-progressive cerebellar degenerations to the acute cerebellar lesions due to infarction, edema and hemorrhage, configuring a true neurological emergency. Acute cerebellar ataxia is a syndrome that occurs in less than 72 hours, in previously healthy subjects. Acute ataxia usually results in hospitalization and extensive laboratory investigation. Clinicians are often faced with decisions on the extent and timing of the initial screening tests, particularly to detect treatable causes. The main group of diseases that may cause acute ataxias discussed in this article are: stroke, infectious, toxic, immune-mediated, paraneoplastic, vitamin deficiency, structural lesions and metabolic diseases. This review focuses on the etiologic and diagnostic considerations for acute ataxia.RESUMO A ataxia cerebelar é um achado comum na prática neurológica e tem uma grande variedade de causas, desde a degeneração cerebelar crônica e lentamente progressiva à lesão cerebelar aguda devido a infarto, edema ou hemorragia, configurando uma verdadeira emergência neurológica. Ataxia cerebelar aguda é uma sí ndrome que ocorre em menos de 72 horas em indivíduos previamente saudáveis. A ataxia aguda geralmente resulta em hospitalização e extensa investigação laboratorial. Os clínicos são frequentemente confrontados com a decisão sobre a extensão e...
Source: Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria - Category: Neurology Source Type: research