Neurologists typically see run-of-the-mill disorders in their usual practice. Not to underestimate the seriousness of these syndromes, but these are not conditions that keep the neurologist awake at night – they are not difficult to diagnose, and most neurologists don’t break into a sweat in managing them. What really get neurologists bristling are the esoteric diseases; these are disorders that give us goosebumps, and these make up the bulk of our offerings at our altar – the neuropathological conference.

What are these esoteric diseases that set the blood of neurologists on fire? Which are the most challenging to diagnose? To investigate, I had a quick look at the index of Neurochecklists, and I came up with 75 that fit the bill. I have classified these into three according to the difficulty they pose to the neurologist:

1. Strenuous – 25 diseases which require some hard thinking and reading-up to solve.
2. Arduous – 25 conditions which will require a phone call to a nearby expert to resolve.
3. Herculean – 25 conditions which only a few worldwide experts can help save the day.

Below then, in order of difficulty, are the 75 most challenging neurological diagnoses

 

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Strenuous

Alexander disease

Benign hereditary chorea

CANVAS syndrome

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX)

CLIPPERS

Dentatorubral pallidolyusian atrophy (DRPLA)

Doose syndrome

Fatal familial insomnia (FFI)

Fragile X tremor ataxia syndrome (FXTAS)

Generalised epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+)

Gerstmann Straussler Scheinker (GSS) syndrome

Lafora body disease

Menke’s disease

Miller Dieker syndrome

MNGIE

Myofibrillar myopathy

Neuro Sweet syndrome

Ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency

Potassium aggravated myotonias

Progressive encephalomyelitis rigidity and myoclonus (PERM)

Pyridoxine-responsive epileptic encephalopathy

Rapid onset dystonia parkinsonism (RDP)

Refsum’s disease

Rippling muscle disease (RMD)

Tyrosine hydroxylase deficiency (THD)

 

Arduous

Adult polyglucosan body disease

Alpers syndrome

Barth syndrome

Brown Vialetto Van Laere syndrome (BVVL)

CARASIL

Facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy (FOSMN)

Hemiconvulsion hemiplegia (HH) syndrome

Hereditary myopathy with early respiratory failure (HMERF)

Jeavon’s syndrome

Joubert syndrome

Kufor Rakeb

Landau Kleffner syndrome

Melkersson Rosenthal syndrome

Nemaline myopathy

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL)

Ohtahara syndrome

Pelizaeus Marzbacher disease 

Panayiotopoulos syndrome (PS) 

Pantethonate kinase associated neurodegeneration (PKAN)

Perry syndrome

Raeder’s paratrigeminal syndrome

Rett syndrome

Sialidosis

Tangier disease

Tarui disease

Herculean

 1q deletion syndrome 

Aceruloplasminaemia

Biotin responsive basal ganglia disease

Brody disease

Calsequestrin storage myopathy

Coffin Lowry syndrome 

Congenital cataracts facial dysmorphism neuropathy (CCFDN)

Curranino syndrome

Danon disease

Nasu Hakola disease

PHARC syndrome

POL3 related leukodystrophy

Pourfour du petit syndrome

Sandhoff disease

Satoyoshi syndrome

Schwartz Jampel syndrome

Sepiapterin reductase deficiency

SEPN-1 related myopathy 

Sialic acid storage diseases

Sjogren Larsson syndrome

Unverricht Lundborg disease

Vici syndrome

Wolf Hirschhorn syndrome

Woodhouse Sakati syndrome

Zellweger syndrome

The is of course a personal and non-evidenced list. Understandably, there will be differing opinions about what each person finds challenging. Therefore please challenge the inclusion, or misclassification, of any items on the list, or make suggestions of other challenging neurological disorders.

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To explore these and many other comprehensive neurology checklists…

Go online at Neurochecklists.com

 

Or get the book, 700 Essential Neurology Checklists