Stiff-Man Syndrome — An Autoimmune Disease?

Stiff-man syndrome is a dramatic central nervous system disease characterized by continuous muscle rigidity and painful spasms, resembling a chronic form of tetanus. The colorful name has achieved wide familiarity, but few physicians have ever encountered a case. Moersch and Woltman1 observed 14 patients with these symptoms at the Mayo Clinic over a period of 32 years, before christening the disorder in print in 1956 — an almost unduplicated instance of self-restraint in medical reporting. Subsequent cases have been reported one or two at a time; the rarity of the disease has made research difficult.The symptoms begin to appear . . .