Stiff-person Syndrome with Waldenström Macroglobulinemia

Abstract

We herein report the case of stiff-person syndrome in a 73-year-old woman. She experienced episodes of painful muscle spasms and was admitted to another hospital. She was diagnosed with Waldenström macroglobulinemia. She showed improvement in muscle spasms post-chemotherapy, which was discontinued due to pancytopenia. Six months later, she was admitted to our hospital for repeated whole-body muscle spasms, at which point she was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome. An anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody text was negative. Her muscle spasms disappeared after the administration of corticosteroids and rituximab. Stiff-person syndrome may develop with Waldenström macroglobulinemia. In the present case, corticosteroids and rituximab provided effective treatment.