Clinical Reasoning: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Challenges in a 16-Year-Old With Early-Onset Ataxia

Neurology. 2025 Jan 28;104(2):e210253. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000210253. Epub 2024 Dec 27.

Abstract

A 16-year-old adolescent girl presented with progressive walking imbalance, uncoordination of her limbs, impaired proprioceptive sensation distal to her wrists and ankles, and sensorineural hearing loss. Her evaluation revealed diffuse cerebellar atrophy, a demyelinating neuropathy, and hypergonadotropic hypogonadism. In this article, we present a systematic approach to a patient with early-onset ataxia, cerebellar atrophy, and demyelinating neuropathy.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Ataxia* / diagnosis
  • Ataxia* / etiology
  • Ataxia* / physiopathology
  • Atrophy / pathology
  • Cerebellar Ataxia / diagnosis
  • Clinical Reasoning
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypogonadism / diagnosis