Antibody-related movement disorders – a comprehensive review of phenotype-autoantibody correlations and a guide to testing

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade increasing scientific progress in the field of autoantibody–mediated neurological diseases was achieved. Movement disorders are a frequent and often prominent feature in such diseases which are potentially treatable. MAIN BODY: Antibody-mediated movement disorders encompass a large clinical spectrum of diverse neurologic disorders occurring either in isolation or accompanying more complex autoimmune encephalopathic diseases. Since autoimmune movement disorders can easily be misdiagnosed as neurodegenerative or metabolic conditions, appropriate immunotherapy can be delayed or even missed. Recognition of typical clinical patterns is important to reach the correct diagnosis. CONCLUSION: There is a growing number of newly discovered antibodies which can cause movement disorders. Several antibodies can cause distinctive phenotypes of movement disorders which are important to be aware of. Early diagnosis is important because immunotherapy can result in major improvement. In this review article we summarize the current knowledge of autoimmune movement disorders from a point of view focused on clinical syndromes. We discuss associated clinical phenomenology and antineuronal antibodies together with alternative etiologies with the aim of providing a diagnostic framework for clinicians considering underlying autoimmunity in patients with movement disorders.