Motor performance in Alzheimer''s disease

A 47-year-old man with Hirayama's disease who developed cervical spondylotic amyotrophy (CSA) is presented. The patient had noted weakness and atrophy of hand and forearm muscles bilaterally at the age of 16. At the age of 40, he developed proximal muscle atrophy and weakness bilaterally after 20 years of a non-progressive state. Myelography and computed tomography (CT)-myelography revealed that ventral cord compression at multiple levels of C4-7 vertebral bodies was increased when the neck was extended. The clinical diagnosis was CSA associated with Hirayama's disease. To our knowledge, this is the first such case to be reported.