TY - JOUR T1 - Atypical Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis: ataxic hypersomnolence without ophthalmoplegia JF - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry JO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry SP - 1206 LP - 1207 DO - 10.1136/jnnp-2013-304993 VL - 84 IS - 11 AU - Benjamin R Wakerley AU - Derek Soon AU - Yee-Cheun Chan AU - Nobuhiro Yuki Y1 - 2013/11/01 UR - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/84/11/1206.abstract N2 - Objective Clinical and immunological evaluation of ‘incomplete’ Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis (BBE). Methods We studied two patients with postinfectious brainstem syndromes who presented at National University Hospital Singapore. Laboratory work-up included measurement of antiganglioside antibodies. Results Both patients displayed hypersomnolence and cerebellar-like ataxia in the absence of external ophthalmoplegia and carried high serum titres of IgG anti-GQ1b antibodies, strongly indicative of BBE. Conclusions Ophthalmoplegia can be absent or incomplete in BBE, and the absence of this clinical feature should not exclude BBE from the clinicians’ differential. Such cases of incomplete BBE could be defined as ‘ataxic hypersomnolence without ophthalmoplegia’. ER -