Vertigo Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vertigo, including details on causes, symptoms, treatment, dizziness.

Paraneoplastic Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Syndrome: initial presentation of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Kumar A, Lajara-Nanson WA, Neilson RW

.Department of Internal Medicine, Resident Physician Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, USA.

A 69 year-old man developed sudden-onset multidirectional, constant, involuntary ocular movements associated with vertigo, truncal ataxia and involuntary movements of the lower limbs. These features were typical of opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome (OMS). MRI of the brain was normal. CSF studies showed a single oligoclonal IgG band. A chest x-ray showed a 2-centimeter lesion in the periphery of the left lung. Fine needle aspiration biopsy of this lesion revealed large B-cell lymphoma. OMS can be either idiopathic or a paraneoplastic manifestation of underlying malignancy. 20 of OMS cases are paraneoplastic in origin; breast and lung cancer are responsible for 70 of these. Association of this syndrome with non-Hodgkins lymphoma is rare, with only one case previously reported.

Published 3 June 2005 in J Neurooncol, 73(1): 43-5.
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