Cerebellar degeneration is a group of diseases that manifests as progressive ataxia, that finally led to death without specific treatment. We report here two patients with cerebellar degeneration, who had shown an improvement and less progressive course, which is associated with panax ginseng intake. Patient 1 was a 60-year-old woman with multisystem atrophy (MSA) type C with 5 year history of ginseng ingestion. Patient 2 was a 54-year-old woman with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) type 6, who had a history of ginseng intake for 30 months. Both the patients showed atrophic change in the cerebellum by brain magnetic resonance imaging. Cerebellar functions had been semi-quantified by International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) and monitored before and after the ginseng ingestion every 6 to 12 months. In Patient 1 with MSA type C, ICARS had improved from 21 to 17.5 ± 1.8 in the following 5 years. In Patient 2 with SCA, ICARS also showed an improvement from 22 to 6.0 ± 1.0 over 30 months. However, when she stopped taking ginseng, it progressed up to 13 points in two years. These observations provide a potential disease-modifying effect of ginseng on patients with cerebellar degeneration.
Cerebellar Ataxia ; Cerebellar Diseases

Progressive ataxia and palatal tremor (PAPT) is a subgroup of symptomatic palatal tremors which is characterized by palatal tremor and idiopathic progressive cerebellar ataxia. Here, we report a 59 year-old-male who presented with a 5 months history of progressive cerebellar ataxia, and was discovered to have both a symptomatic palatal tremor and torsional nystagmus. Various studies searching for the cause of the ataxia and the palatal tremor all came out negative, thus defining this patient as a PAPT.
Ataxia* ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Humans ; Tremor*

No abstract available.
Carcinoid Tumor* ; Cerebellar Ataxia*

No abstract available.
Ataxia* ; Atrophy* ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Spinocerebellar Ataxias*

No abstract available.
Ataxia* ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Infarction* ; Middle Cerebral Artery*

We experienced two suspected cases of hereditary cerebellar ataxia of ten years and right years aged boys who brothers. The patients manifested progressive wide base ataxic gait, incordination, intention tremor, impaired balance and dysarthria. A bries review of related literature is also presented.
Cerebellar Ataxia* ; Dysarthria ; Gait ; Humans ; Siblings* ; Tremor

No abstract available.
Antibodies* ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome* ; Humans

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (SCA8), originally described in a family characterized by pure cerebellar ataxia, is caused by the expansion of combined CTA/CTG repeats on chromosome 13q21. We experienced a 26-year-old man who presented with a 10-years history of slowly progressive gait ataxia, dysarthria and blepharospasm. We performed genetic studies for SCA1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8, and detected CTA/CTG repeat expansion in the SCA8 gene. We now report the first Korean familial case of SCA8 confirmed by genetic study.
Adult ; Blepharospasm ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Dysarthria ; Gait Ataxia ; Humans ; Spinocerebellar Ataxias*

Early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes is clinical syndrome characterized by progressive cerebelar ataxia of unknown etiology with an onset within the first two decades. This disorder was distinguished from Friedreich's ataxia by the preservation of the tendon reflexes. We have experienced a case of early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes which was diagnosed by clinical features, eletrophysiologic studies, and MRI scan. This 8 year-old male patient had suffered from gait ataxia with delayed growth and development since 3 years of age. A brief review of the related literatures was also made.
Ataxia ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Child ; Friedreich Ataxia ; Gait Ataxia ; Growth and Development ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Reflex, Stretch* ; Spinocerebellar Degenerations* ; Tendons*

Early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes is clinical syndrome characterized by progressive cerebelar ataxia of unknown etiology with an onset within the first two decades. This disorder was distinguished from Friedreich's ataxia by the preservation of the tendon reflexes. We have experienced a case of early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes which was diagnosed by clinical features, eletrophysiologic studies, and MRI scan. This 8 year-old male patient had suffered from gait ataxia with delayed growth and development since 3 years of age. A brief review of the related literatures was also made.
Ataxia ; Cerebellar Ataxia ; Child ; Friedreich Ataxia ; Gait Ataxia ; Growth and Development ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Reflex, Stretch* ; Spinocerebellar Degenerations* ; Tendons*