Prominent Spasticity and Hyperreflexia of the Legs in a Nepalese Patient with Friedreich At

Hiroya Naruse, Yuji Takahashi, Hiroyuki Ishiura, Takashi Matsukawa, Jun Mitsui, Yaeko Ichikawa, Masashi Hamada, Jun Shimizu, Jun Goto, Tatsushi Toda, Shoji Tsuji, axia, Internal Medicine, Article ID 2953-19, [Advance publication] Released June 07, 2019, Online ISSN 1349-7235, Print ISSN 0918-2918, doi:10.2169/internalmedicine.2953-19,

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia caused by mutations of FXN. Hypotonus and hyporeflexia of the lower extremities are observed in most FRDA patients. Patients with hyperreflexia, called Friedreich ataxia with retained reflexes (FARR), have also been identified. We herein report the case of a 16-year-old Nepalese boy presenting with early-onset ataxia with prominent spasticity and hyperreflexia of the legs. Mutational analyses established the diagnosis of FRDA presenting as FARR. A haplotype analysis revealed that expanded alleles of the patient shared a common haplotype with Indian and European FRDA patients, suggesting that the mutation descended from a common founder.