Causes of progressive cerebellar ataxia: prospective evaluation of 1500 patients

M Hadjivassiliou, J Martindale, P Shanmugarajah, R A Grünewald, P G Sarrigiannis, N Beauchamp, K Garrard, R Warburton, D S Sanders, D Friend, S Duty, J Taylor, N Hoggard; J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry doi:10.1136/jnnp-2016-314863

A total of 1500 patients were assessed over 20 years. Twenty per cent had a family history, the remaining having sporadic ataxia. The commonest cause of sporadic ataxia was gluten ataxia (25%). A genetic cause was identified in 156 (13%) of sporadic cases with other causes being alcohol excess (12%) and cerebellar variant of multiple system atrophy (11%). Using NGS, positive results were obtained in 32% of 146 patients tested. The commonest ataxia identified was EA2. A genetic diagnosis was achieved in 57% of all familial ataxias. The commonest genetic ataxias were Friedreich's ataxia (22%), SCA6 (14%), EA2 (13%), SPG7 (10%) and mitochondrial disease (10%). The diagnostic yield following attendance at the Sheffield Ataxia Centre was 63%.