Multiple system atrophy

Abstract

The article presents a progressive neurodegenerative disease - multisystem atrophy, characterized by a combination of autonomic failure and various motor disorders, including parkinsonism and/or cerebellar ataxia; etiopathogenetic factors and variants of the clinical picture are described. We describe own clinical observation of a 59-old patient with cerebellar and bulbar syndromes, parkinsonism, pyramidal insufficiency, cognitive deficits, and autonomic dysfunction. The differential diagnosis included a whole range of neurodegenerative and hereditary diseases: Parkinson's disease, vascular parkinsonism, progressive supranuclear palsy, spinocerebellar ataxia, FXTAS, mitochondrial encephalopathies. The moderate severity of parkinsonism and the significant predominance of cerebellar symptoms and autonomic dysfunction make this clinical case difficult to diagnose. However, based on the life and disease history, clinical picture and research methods, a diagnosis of multiple system atrophy, cerebellar type (cerebellar, autonomic, bulbar syndrome, parkinsonism, pyramidal insufficiency and moderate cognitive impairment) was established. Differential search in such patients is a difficult task and includes a whole range of neurodegenerative and hereditary diseases due to the similarity of individual clinical and neuroimaging features and, unfortunately, the limited availability of molecular genetic diagnostic methods. However, earlier diagnosis is necessary to focus in time on the development of a personalized approach to the management of each such patient, taking into account the rate of symptoms development and steady progression, in order to ensure the longest possible survival time with an acceptable level of quality of life.