Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration and psychosis in uterine malignancy

Abstract

Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndromes (PNS) are a group of rare disorders that occur in people with malignancies due to autoimmune mediated mechanisms affecting the central or peripheral nervous system. These effects are not due to the direct or local effects of the primary neoplasm or its secondaries. They are due to cross reaction of antibody or cell mediated immune factors affecting specific cells of the body. Sometimes these even ante-date the clinical presentation of the specific malignancy, there by leading to the search and discovery of the said malignancy. Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration (PCD) is a rare manifestation noted more commonly in breast cancer, ovarian cancer and small cell cancer of the lung. Very few are reported occurring due to uterine carcinoma. Here we report a rare case where Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration was preceded by psychosis in a female patient with uterine malignancy.

Keywords

• paraneoplastic neurological syndromes
• cerebellar degeneration
• psychosis
• gynaecological malignancy