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  • the Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Article

Case Report

Exp Neurobiol 2019; 28(1): 119-129

Published online February 28, 2019

https://doi.org/10.5607/en.2019.28.1.119

© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

An Autopsy Proven Case of CSF1R-mutant Adult-onset Leukoencephalopathy with Axonal Spheroids and Pigmented Glia (ALSP) with Premature Ovarian Failure

Seong-Ik Kim1, Beomseok Jeon2, Jeongmo Bae1, Jae Kyung Won1, Han-Joon Kim2, Jeemin Yim1, Yun Joong Kim3, and Sung-Hye Park1,4*

1Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea.

2Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea.

3Department of Neurology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang 14068, Korea.

4Institure of Neuroscience, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 03080, Korea.

Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
TEL: 82-2-740-3090, FAX: 82-2-743-5530
e-mail: shparknp@snu.ac.kr

Received: October 15, 2018; Revised: January 9, 2019; Accepted: January 14, 2019

Adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP) is a progressive degenerative white matter disorder caused by mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of the CSF1R gene. ALSP is often misdiagnosed as other diseases due to its rarity and various clinical presentations such as Parkinsonism, pyramidal signs, cognitive impairment and/or psychiatric symptoms. We describe an autopsy case of ALSP with a CSF1R mutation. A 61-year-old woman presented insidious-onset gait difficulty for 12 years since her age of 49, and premature ovarian failure since her age of 35. At initial hospital visit, brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed hydrocephalus. Initially, Parkinson's syndrome was diagnosed, and she was prescribed L-dopa/carbidopa because of spasticity and rigidity of extremities, which had worsened. Subsequently, severe neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive impairment developed and radiologically, features of leukoencephalopathy or leukodystrophy were detected. She showed a down-hill course and died, 12 years after initial diagnosis. At autopsy, the brain showed severe symmetric atrophy of bilateral white matter, paper-thin corpus callosum, thin internal capsule, and marked hydrocephalus. Microscopically, diffuse loss of white matter, relatively preserved subcortical U-fibers, and many eosinophilic bulbous neuroaxonal spheroids were noted, but there was no calcification. Pigmented glia with brown cytoplasmic pigmentation were readily found in the white matter, which were positive for Periodic acid-Schiff, p62, and CD163 stains, but almost negative for CD68. Whole-exome and Sanger sequencing revealed a CSF1R mutation (c.2539G>A, p.Glu847Lys) which was reported in prior one ALSP case. This example demonstrates that ALSP could be associated with premature ovarian failure.

Graphical Abstract


Keywords: Autopsy, CSF1R, Leukoencephalopathy, Neuroglia, Whole exome sequencing