Neurophysiological abnormalities in the westphal variant of Huntington's disease

✍ Scribed by Rudolf Töpper; Michael Schwarz; Herwig W. Lange; Harald Hefter; Johannes Noth

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 848 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-3185
• DOI: 10.1002/mds.870130610

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The Westphal variant of Huntington's disease (HD) is a distinct clinical entity of HD characterized by a rigid‐hypokinetic syndrome and is often associated with a juvenile onset of disease. Definite genetic differences between the subtypes of HD have not been delineated so far. Here we present the results of a battery of neurophysiological tests including somatosensory‐evoked potentials, blink reflexes, longlatency reflexes, and measurement of saccadic velocities in a Westphal HD patient. Although quantitative assessment of his motor performance showed a severe hypokinetic syndrome resembling Parkinson's disease, the results of somatosensoryevoked potentials and blink reflexes were indistinguishable from results obtained in hyperkinetic HD patients. Longlatency reflexes, however, which are typically absent in hyperkinetic HD patients, were retained in this patient. It is concluded that neurophysiology in HD patients is not a mere reflection of the patient's symptomatology but can give insight into the underlying pathophysiological process.