Ataxia

Caroline Just, MD, reflects on the challenges of diagnosing and treating rare neurological diseases, urging for improved education, collaboration, and research efforts.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, a more widely used symptomatic treatment, was able to improve several outcomes for patients with cerebellar ataxia, especially at high frequencies.

A recent phase 3 trial demonstrated that N-acetyl-l-leucine significantly improved symptoms in patients with Niemann-Pick disease type C, showing promise as a potential treatment.

Omaveloxolone is an oral, once-daily medication indicated for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia in adults and adolescents aged 16 years and older in both the United States and the European Union.

Even after adjusting for indications for benzodiazepine administration and baseline disease severity, results showed greater patient disease worsening while on such medications, regardless of duration and dose.

In a recent case study, clinical exome sequencing exposed a heterozygous missense mutation in the ITPR1 gene where patients showed craniofacial abnormalities as well as spinocerebellar ataxia-like syndrome.

A new study reported on a small family who experienced paroxysmal ataxia as the initial manifestation of FGF14 repeat expansion, triggered by certain factors between the ages of 45 and 50.

Noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, particularly transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), prove safe and effective for cerebellar ataxia, enhancing motor coordination.

In a study cohort, investigators observed the frequency of FGF14 GAA repeat expansions in 17 patients, prompting the inclusion of GAA-FGF14-related disease in the differential diagnosis of ataxia related syndromes.

A recent study demonstrated the superior efficacy of a dual-task training program over traditional physical therapy in improving balance and cognitive function in pediatric patients with ataxia following medulloblastoma resection.

In a recent study, investigators characterized an exonic GGC repeat in ZFHX3 associated with spinocerebellar ataxia type 4 in the original pedigree in which linkage was characterized over 25 years ago.

A case series highlighted the significance of using multimodal imaging, such as spectral domain OCT, in detecting ocular manifestations in SCA type 7.

A recently published study showed patients with Friedreich Ataxia treated with medications that enhanced mitochondrial function demonstrated improvement in clinical outcomes and left ventricular mass index.

A recent study revealed that tandospirone citrate exhibits more positive effects in alleviating depression/anxiety and cerebellar ataxia symptoms in patients with multiple system atrophy-cerebellar subtype compared with escitalopram oxalate.

In a recent case study of a 32-year-old man diagnosed with Friedreich ataxia, parental sample testing identified a novel intragenic deletion involving the 5'UTR upstream region and exons 1 and 2 of the FXN gene.

In a phase 3 study, patients on omaveloxolone had less physical impairment compared with patients who received placebo, as measured by the modified Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale.

Test your neurology knowledge with NeurologyLive®'s weekly quiz series, featuring questions on a variety of clinical and historical neurology topics. This week's topic is ataxia.

Test your neurology knowledge with NeurologyLive®'s weekly quiz series, featuring questions on a variety of clinical and historical neurology topics. This week's topic is ataxia.

A recent study showed the efficacy of multicompartment diffusion measures in distinguishing patients with Friedreich ataxia from controls, emphasizing the potential for these metrics in tracking disease expression and progression.

A recently published study revealed that speech markers can have a high accuracy in distinguishing between neurodegenerative diseases and healthy speech, emphasizing the significance of speech analysis in disease assessment.

Most of the studies included highlighted the increasing level of difficulty in all exercises performed and that the transition from one kinematic protocol to the other depended on the patient’s rate of improvement.

Long-term nicotinamide riboside use in patients with ataxia telangiectasia showed safety, improved motor coordination, and eye movements, suggesting potential disease attenuation.

A study on patients with Friedreich ataxia showed that cervical spinal cord cross-sectional area is a potential biomarker for disease progression, particularly at C1 level.

Test your neurology knowledge with NeurologyLive®'s weekly quiz series, featuring questions on a variety of clinical and historical neurology topics. This week's topic is ataxias.

The phase 3 study is expected to include 86 children with ataxia-telangiectasia who will be assessed on changes in a rescored modified International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale.

In a cross-study analysis, omaveloxolone slowed progression in FA by at least 50% each year for 3 years compared with corresponding data from an external control group in a natural history study.

Previous data on the 25 mg cohort of CTI-1601 showed significant reductions in frataxin levels among treated individuals with Friedreich ataxia.

Over a 4-year follow-up, SARA progression was substantially linear. Age at evaluation also influenced the speed of SARA progression, while disease duration did not improve the prediction of the statistical model.

Over a 3-treatment cycle, no new clinically significant safety observations were found, with significant dose-dependent increases in frataxin in muscle mRNA expression.

Positive data from the 25 mg cohort study exploring Larimar Therapeutics’ CTI-1601 has been submitted to the FDA, with a meeting scheduled with the agency later this quarter to discuss steps for a phase 2 trial.