Hypothermia, Hypotension, Hypersomnia, and Obesity Associated With Hypothalamic Lesions in a Patient Positive for the Anti-aquaporin 4 Antibody: A Case Report and Literature Review.
Suzuki K, Nakamura T, Hashimoto K, Miyamoto M, Komagamine T, Nagashima T, Izawa N, Kanbayashi T, Takahashi T, Hirata K.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To describe a patient positive for the anti-aquaporin 4 antibody with hypothalamic lesions showing hypothermia, hypotension, hypersomnia, and obesity. DESIGN Case report. SETTING University hospital. PATIENT We describe a 21-year-old woman who was positive for anti-aquaporin 4 antibody and presented with hypothermia, hypotension, and hypersomnia owing to bilateral hypothalamic lesions as the only abnormal clinical finding. RESULTS Immediate steroid administration resulted in significant improvement of the patient’s vital signs and imaging findings; however, her cognitive impairment and sleepiness persisted, and she subsequently developed obesity. Decreased cerebrospinal fluid orexin levels and sleep studies confirmed the diagnosis of narcolepsy due to medical condition. Physicians should be aware that neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders can initially involve the hypothalamus. CONCLUSIONS We emphasize that measurement of anti-aquaporin 4 antibody is of clinical importance in the differential diagnosis of hypothalamic lesions.
PMID: 22777080 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Read More: Hypothermia, Hypotension, Hypersomnia, and Obesi… [Arch Neurol. 2012] – PubMed – NCBI