Susacs syndrome (retinocochleocerebral vasculopathy) is a very rare form of microangiopathy characterized by encephalopathy, branch retinal artery occlusions and hearing loss. The cause is unknown but it is theorized that antibodies are produced against endothelial cells in tiny arteries which leads to damage and the symptoms related to the illness. Despite this being an extremely rare disease, there are 4 registries collecting data on the illness; two are the United States, one in Germany, and one in Portugal. Presentation
Susacs syndrome is named for Dr. John Susac (1940–2012), of Winter Haven, Florida, who first described it in 1979. Susacs syndrome is a very rare disease, of unknown cause, and many persons who experience it do not display the bizarre symptoms named here. Their speech can be affected, such as the case of a female of late teens who suffered speech issues and hearing problems, and many experience unrelenting and intense headaches and migraines, some form of hearing loss, and impaired vision. The problem usually corrects itself, but this can take up to five years. In some cases, subjects can become confused. The syndrome usually affects women around the age of 18 years, with female to male ratio of cases of 2:1. William F. Hoyt was the first to call the syndrome "Susac syndrome" and later Robert Daroff asked Dr. Susac to write an editorial in Neurology about the disorder and to use the eponym of Susac syndrome in the title, forever linking this disease with him. Pathogenesis
In the March 1979 report in Neurology, Drs.
Radiographic appearance
In a recent analysis (Susac et al., 2003), MRI images from 27 patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of Susacs syndrome were reviewed. Multifocal supratentorial lesions were present in all patients. Most lesions were small (3 to 7 mm), though some were larger than 7 mm. All 27 patients had corpus callosum lesions. These all had a punched-out appearance on follow up MRI. Though most commonly involving white matter, many patients also had lesions in deep grey matter structures, as well as leptomeningeal enhancement. Multiple sclerosis (MS) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) can mimic the MRI changes seen in patients with Susacs syndrome. However, the callosal lesions in Susacs syndrome are centrally located. In comparison, patients with MS and ADEM typically have lesions involving the undersurface of the corpus callosum. Deep gray matter involvement commonly occurs in ADEM but is very rare in MS. Leptomeningeal involvement is not typical of either MS or ADEM. What this means is that if 10 lesions are found in the brain of an MS patient, a lesion may be found in the corpus callosum. If you have 10 lesions in a Susac patient, more than half will be in the corpus callosum. A concern about this illness is that it mimics multiple sclerosis when looking at the vision loss and brain lesions. If close attention is not paid to the retina of a patient with vision loss and brain lesions, their symptoms may be mistaken for MS instead of Susacs syndrome.