MRI findings of autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy involving infratentorial: Case report

Abstract

Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy (GFAP-A) is a new type of autoimmune astrocytopathy first defined in 2016. Lack of clinical understanding, often misdiagnosed as optic neuromyelitis or multiple sclerosis. We report the clinical and MRI findings of an elderly patient with autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy. With intractable vomiting as the first symptom, the brainstem showed typical vascular enhancement. GFAP-A lacks specificity in clinical and MRI scans. When enhancement reveals paraventricular “vascular-like enhancement” or central spinal cord tubular enhancement, it is important to consider the possibility of this disease.

Keywords

• Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy
• neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders
• magnetic resonance imaging