| Abstract: |
This article presents the clinical case study of antigliadin antibody in an ataxic patient with no other evidence of celiac disease. Celiac disease is a malabsorptive condition in which an allergic reaction to gluten, a wheat protein, causes mucosal injury and inflammation in the small intestine. The presence of neurologic disease among patients with sprue is estimated at 6 to 10 percent. The case study was a 53-year-old man who developed sudden onset ataxia while working in his garden. He began staggering and falling to the left or right, but not forward or backward, and noted a fine tremor in his hands, both at rest and with intentional movement. His speech became hesitant and occasionally developed into a stutter. His symptoms neither progressed nor regressed over approximately 6 months. The patient underwent exhaustive neurologic and gastroenterologic evaluation. Appended to the article is a review (Azam, Buckley, and Farrell), as well as a section of answers to common questions physicians may have about celiac disease. 50 references. |