Glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody-related stiff person syndrome: Two case reports of a child and an adult

Abstract

Stiff person syndrome (SPS) is a disease characterized by rigidity in the extremities, axial muscles, and abdominal muscles, severe and painful spasms, and accompanying gait disturbances. Stiff person syndrome is most common in adults between the ages of 20 to 50 and in female sex. The most frequently reported antibody in patients with SPS is antibodies developed against glutamic acid decarboxylase enzyme. In this article, two SPS cases from different age groups who presented with gait disturbance and painful spasms and were found to have glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody positivity were reported with clinical and electrophysiological findings in the light of the literature. As in our cases, SPS should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients of all age presenting with muscle stiffness and spasms, specifically those that increase with stimulus.