Correspondence

Case 21-1997: Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration and Hodgkin's Disease

N Engl J Med 1998; 338:66January 1, 1998

Article

To the Editor:

Dr. Eder, in his discussion of the paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration associated with Hodgkin's disease (July 10 issue),1 quoted the 1976 paper by Trotter and colleagues2 but did not mention that the antibodies they described are now recognized as distinct antibodies associated with Hodgkin's disease. These antibodies have been designated anti-Tr antibodies.3 They have a characteristic dotted staining pattern, suggestive of immunoreactivity of the dendritic spines of Purkinje cells, and are specific for Hodgkin's disease.

Tahseen Mozaffar, M.B., B.S.
Aga Khan University College of Medicine, Karachi 74800, Pakistan

3 References

1. 1

   Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital (Case 21-1997). N Engl J Med 1997;337:115-122
   Full Text | Web of Science | Medline

2. 2

   Trotter JL, Hendin BA, Osterland CK. Cerebellar degeneration with Hodgkin disease: an immunological study. Arch Neurol 1976;33:660-661
   Web of Science | Medline

3. 3

   Graus F, Dalmau J, Valldeoriola F, et al. Immunological characterization of a neuronal antibody (anti-Tr) associated with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration and Hodgkin's disease. J Neuroimmunol 1997;74:55-61
   CrossRef | Web of Science | Medline