An Adult Case of Cockayne Syndrome without Sclerotic Angiopathy

We report an autopsy case of Cockayne syndrome (CS). A 40-year-old Japanese woman was admitted to our hospital for cachexia. She had displayed the striking features of CS, including dwarfism, mental retardation, neural deafness, ataxia, intracranial calcifications, and progeria since her childhood. Endocrinological examinations suggested normal pituitary function and a disorder of the hypothalamus or the cerebrum. She died of acute pneumonia at the age of 42. Autopsy findings showed typical abnormalities in the central nervous system compatible with CS; however, no atherosclerotic change was observed in the systemic arteries. (Internal Medicine 36: 565-570, 1997)