Biomaterial Database

Delayed cerebellar ataxia complicating falciparum malaria: a clinical study of 74 patients. 1994

N Senanayake, and H J de Silva

Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

We report the clinical features of 74 patients with delayed cerebellar ataxia (DCA) following falciparum malaria, who were prospectively followed up at two centres. This unusual complication has an acute onset, with signs suggesting a predominantly midline cerebellar lesion without any evidence of cerebral involvement. There was a delay of a median 13 days between the onset of fever and the onset of ataxia. DCA has a good prognosis, with spontaneous and complete recovery within 3 months. In our opinion, it is an example of a post-infective neurological syndrome possibly mediated via an immune mechanism.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D011446	Prospective Studies	Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.	Prospective Study,Studies, Prospective,Study, Prospective
D002524	Cerebellar Ataxia	Incoordination of voluntary movements that occur as a manifestation of CEREBELLAR DISEASES. Characteristic features include a tendency for limb movements to overshoot or undershoot a target (dysmetria), a tremor that occurs during attempted movements (intention TREMOR), impaired force and rhythm of diadochokinesis (rapidly alternating movements), and GAIT ATAXIA. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p90)	Adiadochokinesis,Ataxia, Cerebellar,Cerebellar Dysmetria,Dysmetria,Cerebellar Hemiataxia,Cerebellar Incoordination,Hypermetria,Adiadochokineses,Ataxias, Cerebellar,Cerebellar Ataxias,Cerebellar Dysmetrias,Cerebellar Hemiataxias,Cerebellar Incoordinations,Dysmetria, Cerebellar,Dysmetrias,Dysmetrias, Cerebellar,Hemiataxia, Cerebellar,Hemiataxias, Cerebellar,Hypermetrias,Incoordination, Cerebellar,Incoordinations, Cerebellar
D005260	Female		Females
D005500	Follow-Up Studies	Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.	Followup Studies,Follow Up Studies,Follow-Up Study,Followup Study,Studies, Follow-Up,Studies, Followup,Study, Follow-Up,Study, Followup
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000208	Acute Disease	Disease having a short and relatively severe course.	Acute Diseases,Disease, Acute,Diseases, Acute
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults