Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-019-1120-7
(2019) 14:146
REVIEW
Open Access
Treatment of Satoyoshi syndrome: a
systematic review
Julián Solís-García del Pozo1, Carlos de Cabo2,5*
and Javier Solera3,4
Abstract
Background: Satoyoshi syndrome is a multisystemic rare disease of unknown etiology, although an autoimmune
basis is presumed. Its main symptoms are: painful muscle spasms, diarrhea, alopecia and skeletal abnormalities.
Clinical course without treatment may result in serious disability or death. A review of treatment and its response is
still pending.
Results: Sixty-four cases of Satoyoshi syndrome were published between 1967 and 2018. 47 cases described the
treatment administered. Drugs used can be divided into two main groups of treatment: muscle relaxants/
anticonvulsants, and corticosteroids/immunosuppressants. Dantrolene improved muscle symptoms in 13 out of
15 cases, but not any other symptoms of the disease. Other muscle relaxants or anticonvulsant drugs showed
little or no effect. 28 out of 30 cases responded to a regimen that included costicosteroids. Other immunosuppressive
drugs including cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine, methotrexate, tacrolimus and cyclophosphamide
were used to decrease corticosteroid dose or improve efficacy. Immunoglobulin therapy was used in nine patients and
four of them obtained a favorable response.
Conclusion: Corticosteroids was the most widely treatment employed with the best results in Satoyoshi syndrome.
Further studies are needed to determine optimal dose and duration of corticosteroids as well as the role of other
immunosuppressants and immunoglobulin therapy. Genetic or autoimmune markers will be useful to guide future
therapies.
Keywords: Alopecia, Corticosteroids, Dantrolene, Diarrhea, Immunoglobulin therapy, Muscle spasms, Rare diseases,
Satoyoshi syndrome
Introduction
Satoyoshi syndrome (SS) (ORPHA 3130), also called
komuragaeri disease, is a rare disorder with fewer than
70 cases reported in the medical literature. It is a multisystem disease presenting with progressive painful
muscle spasms, diarrhea, endocrinopathy, alopecia, and
skeletal abnormalities [1]. An autoimmune basis is likely
through association with other autoimmune conditions:
the presence of autoantibodies, and successful treatment
of symptoms with immunosuppressants [2, 3].
The first two SS patients were described by Satoyoshi
and Yamada in 1967 [4]. These authors employed
* Correspondence: carlosd@sescam.jccm.es
2
Research Department, Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Complejo
Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete, Albacete, Spain
5
Hospital General Universitario de Albacete, Unidad de
Neuropsicofarmacología, Edificio de Investigación, 3ª planta, c/ Hermanos
Falcó, 37, E-02008 Albacete, Spain
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
multiple drugs including acetazolamide, magnesium sulfate, dexamethasone, prednisolone, diazepam, phenobarbital, diphenylhydantoin, quinine sulfate, chlorpromazine
and others [4]. Despite these treatments, they failed to
control muscle spasms in their patients. Eleven years
later, in 1978, Satoyoshi reported 15 patients with this
syndrome (including again the two first ones from 1967
[4]), most of them young women [1]. Of these 15 patients, five died, and the evolution was towards a disabling condition in the remaining patients due to failure of
treatment. Since then, the existing reviews have focused
on some of the manifestations of the disease [5–7], but a
review of treatment and prognosis of this syndrome has
not yet been carried out.
The first treatments for SS were aimed primarily to alleviate the painful and incapacitating intermittent muscle
spasms. Muscle relaxants and antiepileptic drugs were
used by different authors with limited results [3, 8, 9].
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Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
(2019) 14:146
In the last 30 years, the drugs used for SS can be divided into two main groups of treatment: i) muscle
relaxants and anticonvulsants, and ii) corticosteroids
and immunosuppressants. Other treatments such as
nutritional support, hormonal treatments or orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation were necessary in
some cases. In the present article, we performed a
systematic review of the treatment of SS.
Material and methods
Search strategy and inclusion of cases
All published cases of Satoyoshi syndrome were
reviewed. For this purpose, a MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge (WOS), and Scopus search was performed using
the keywords “Satoyoshi syndrome” or “Komuragaeri
disease” with no limit for the year of publication or
language. All records found up to December 2018 were
included. The lists of references from the articles found
by electronic search were also reviewed to identify additional records. We also reviewed the references from
works cited on OMIM [10], ORPHANET [11] and Rare
Diseases NIH [12] websites. All articles that reported SS
cases were included.
Both the literature search and the inclusion of case reports were carried out by two of the authors. In case of
disagreement between them, the final decision was
reached after discussion among all the authors.
The searches in MEDLINE, Scopus and WOS searches
yielded 45, 63 and 53 articles, respectively. Twelve additional works were retrieved from reviewing the bibliographies from the articles previously found. A total of 64
cases of Satoyoshi syndrome were identified from 53
published articles (Fig. 1).
Data extraction
The following data were extracted from each of the selected cases:
– Clinical and epidemiological characteristics: age, age
at onset of symptoms and delay of diagnosis, sex,
country of origin, symptoms and sings, and presence
of other associated diseases.
– Treatments received including muscle relaxants,
antiepileptic drugs, corticosteroids, other
immunosuppressants such as azathioprine,
methotrexate, mycophenolate, tacrolimus,
immunoglobulin therapy or a combination of
these drugs. Duration of treatment and response
were also recorded.
– Outcomes: time of follow-up, mortality and
sequelae.
The improvement of muscle spasms was recorded following the authors’ descriptions. This improvement was
Page 2 of 13
usually reported as the ability to perform the activities of
daily living without significant interference from muscular symptoms. In the same way, the improvement or
remission of alopecia and digestive symptoms was recorded according to the clinical case report. Usually, improvement of alopecia was considered as the regrowth
of hair in the areas where it had fallen. Remission of digestive symptoms was usually described as the disappearance of diarrhea or signs of malabsorption along
with weight gain. Non-response to treatment was defined as either no significant change in any of the symptoms of the disease according to the authors, or the
death of the patient due to the disease. Death was considered related to SS if it was not possible to attribute it
to a different cause. The time until the improvement occurred and the duration of the response were recorded if
available.
Data analysis
Data from each one of the cases were stored in an Excel
database. A descriptive analysis was made after verification of the database. Qualitative data were described
using frequency and percentage. Quantitative data were
described as the mean ± standard deviation. Median and
range were used in the case of non-normal variables.
Results
Forty-seven out of the 64 total cases (73%) were women
and 28 cases (43%) were Japanese patients, although
cases of SS have been reported in other parts of the
world. The age at diagnosis ranged from 5 to 65 years
with a median of 16 years and with a mean of 20.3 ±
12.4 years. The average diagnostic delay was 7.5 years.
Age at onset of symptoms ranged from 1 to 46 years
with a median of 11 years and a mean of 13.02 ± 9.1
years. Only 13% cases of Satoyoshi syndrome were
adult-onset.
All published cases had intermittent painful muscle
spasms, and all had some degree of alopecia. Alopecia
became universalis in 63% of cases. 37 cases (58%) had
digestive alterations, mainly diarrhea. Skeletal alterations
were described in 22 cases (34%) of which in 4 cases had
dental occlusion problems. In 23 patients (38.3%) the
presence of autoantibodies in different combinations
was detected. Symptoms were progressive until onset of
treatment and 7 patients died (11%). Out of the 64 patients detected, 47 [1–3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 32–68] had data on
the individualized treatment administered, and in two
other cases the treatment is not reported individually
[4]. Seven articles described complementary data of
these 49 patients [1, 69–74]. The treatment was not
reported in the remaining 15 patients [1, 40, 75, 76].
There were no differences in their initial clinical characteristics between the the group of 47 SS patients whose
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
(2019) 14:146
Page 3 of 13
Fig. 1 Flow chart illustrating case selection strategy [13–31]
treatment was reported and the rest of patients with SS
(15 patients) whose treatment was not described in the
publications (Table 1).
In addition to pharmacological treatment, patients with
SS have received other therapies including orthopedic surgery, rehabilitation, or nutritional treatments. However, this
review will focus mainly on the pharmacological treatment.
Anticonvulsant drugs
Phenytoin and carbamazepine were the main anticonvulsant drugs used in patients with SS (Table 2). Seven
patients received treatment with phenytoin [5, 32–37].
In 4 cases phenytoin was used as the first option in combination with corticosteroids [5, 33–35]. Baclofen was
also used in one of these four cases [33]. When reported,
the dose administered ranged from 100 mg [34] to 200
mg daily [5, 35]. Overall, 3 out of the seven patients
(42%) who received a phenytoin-containing regimen improved with this therapy [5, 34, 35], although all three
cases also received treatment with corticosteroids.
Carbamazepine (or oxcarbazepine) were used in 9 patients with SS [2, 9, 32, 38–42, 70]. In two of them, it
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
(2019) 14:146
Table 1 Initial clinical characteristics of all SS patients included
in this review, the 47 patients whose treatment was described
and the 30 patients treated with corticosteroids
All patients
N = 64
Patients where
treatment was
specified N = 47
Patients treated
with corticosteroids
N = 30
Age of onset
13.02 ± 9.08
14.19 ± 10.35
13.80 ± 10.32
Female sex
47/64 (73%)
35/47 (74%)
23/30 (77%)
Muscle
manifestations
100%
100%
100%
Alopecia
100%
100%
100%
Alopecia
universalis
40/64 (63%)
25/47 (53%)
17/30 (57%)
Diarrhea
37/64 (58%)
26/47 (55%)
17/30 (57%)
Weight loss, low
weight or growth
retardation
33/64 (52%)
23/47 (49%)
14/30 (47%)
Skeletal
alterations
22/64 (34%)
16/47 (34%)
10/30 (33%)
Amenorrhea
23/47 (49%)
15/35 (43%)
9/23 (39%)
ANA +
17/64 (27%)
17/47 (36%)
13/30 (43%)
Other
autoantibodies
15/64 (23%)
15/47 (32%)
11/30 (37%)
Deaths
7 (11%)
2 (4%)
0 (0%)
was used in combination with corticosteroids [2, 41].
Other drugs used in conjunction with carbamazepine as
the first treatment option were otilonium bromide [38],
tetrazepam [39], and clonazepam [9]. The dose was
reported in four cases [2, 9, 39, 42], and ranged from
200 mg [2] to 600 mg daily [9]. Overall, 4 out of the
nine patients treated with carbamazepine improved
(44%) [2, 38, 39, 41], although in two of them carbamazepine was used in conjunction with corticosteroids [2, 41]. Phenobarbital was used in a patient
after the failure of treatment with carbamazepine, but
this treatment was not effective either [40].
Muscle relaxants
The cases where the use of this type of drug has been
reported for SS are shown in Table 2. The most frequently used drug in this group was dantrolene (15
cases) [1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 32, 33, 42–49]. Dantrolene is a
muscle relaxant that disrupts calcium release from
the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the skeletal muscle
[77]. It has been used as a specific drug to treat malignant hyperthermia [78]. In 7 out of 13 cases of SS
dantrolene dose was reported and ranged from 25
[48] to 200 mg daily [33]. Dantrolene was able to improve muscle symptoms in 13 out of 15 (87%) SS
cases [1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 32, 33, 43, 44, 46–49] but it
proved to be ineffective for the improvement of the
other clinical manifestations of SS. In three out of the
13 cases it was used in association with corticosteroids or
Page 4 of 13
immunoglobulin therapy [6, 46, 47], which makes it difficult to assess the effect of dantrolene by itself.
Baclofen is a gamma-aminobutyric acid derivative that
acts as a muscle relaxant mainly by disrupting polysynaptic and monosynaptic reflexes at the spinal cord level
[77]. It was used in three patients with SS [33, 42, 50]
without improvement in any of them.
Benzodiazepines
Benzodiazepines were used on seven occasions: Clonazepam in 3 patients, diazepam in 2 patients, tetrazepam in
1 patient and midazolam in 1 patient. Clonazepam was
always used in combination [9, 32, 42] with either carbamazepine [9], dantrolene [32], or, in one patient, with
several drugs such as dantrolene, carbamazepine or diazepam [42]. None of these patients experienced clinical
improvement.
Diazepam was used in combination in two patients.
One patient received treatment with diazepam and
other muscle relaxants without adequate response
[42]. Another adult patient received treatment with
diazepam in combination with other therapies such as
immunoglobulin therapy and cyclophosphamide, with
improvement [51].
Tetrazepam 50 mg daily was used in a 21-year-old patient along with carbamazepine 300 mg daily, with an
improvement of spasms [39]. Adachi et al. [52] treated a
patient with intravenous midazolam. This patient developed a malignant neuroleptic syndrome and died. The
authors warned that careful attention should be paid
when midazolam is used in SS.
Systemic corticosteroids
Systemic corticosteroids are the most widely used drugs
for the treatment of SS (Table 3). Out of the 47 analyzed
cases, 30 were treated with systemic corticosteroids
[2, 5, 6, 33–35, 37, 41, 42, 46, 47, 50, 51, 53–67]. In
22 cases the initial therapeutic regimen included corticosteroids, in 8 patients as monotherapy [53–58, 61,
63] and in 14 as combined treatment [2, 5, 6, 33–35,
37, 41, 46, 59, 60, 67]. In the remaining eight patients,
corticosteroids were used after therapeutic failure of other
treatments [42, 47, 50, 51, 62, 64–66].
In 16 cases corticosteroids were employed in combination with other drugs. In 9 cases, corticosteroids were
used together with muscle relaxants or anticonvulsants:
3 patients with phenytoin [5, 34, 35], two patients with
dantrolene [6, 46], two patients with carbamazepine [2, 41],
one patient with botulinum toxin [59], and one patient with
phenytoin and baclofen [33]. In the 7 other patients,
corticosteroids were used in combination with other
immunosuppressants: two patients with cyclosporin
[5], one patient with mycophenolate mofetil [37], one
patient with methotrexate [62] and two patients with
Drug
Improvement No
Change of Comments
Number of Monotherapy As initial treatment As second or
improvement treatment
further-line
in combination
times used as initial
treatment option
with other drugs
treatment
Dantrolene
15
2
13
2
3
Dantrolene improved muscular symptoms but no other manifestations.
It was used as a first option in combination with corticosteroids in
two cases [6, 46] and in another case with immunoglobulin therapy
[47], although, subsequently, immunoglobulin therapy was replaced by
corticosteroids. Although improvement was recorded in 13 patients,
such improvement only lasted for a short time in one of them, which
led to the change in treatment [32]. In another case, the treatment was
changed to immunoglobulin therapy because dantrolene is not a
radical treatment [3]. For one of the cases that did not respond
adequately, a change of treatment was not recorded in the article [45].
Carbamacepine/ 9
Oxcarbacepine
1
7
1
4
5
5
In two cases carbamazepine was combined with corticosteroids [2, 41].
In five cases, the treatment was changed due to lack of effectiveness
[9, 32, 40, 42, 70]. In one of them, it was necessary to use botulinum
toxin to control masticatory spasms [32]. In another of these cases,
authors stated that carbamazepine, phenobarbital, quinine sulfate,
and chlorpromazine were tested during hospitalization and they
were not effective for spasms [40]. In one case, carbamazepine was
used with gabapentin without result [70].
Phenitoin
7
0
4
3
3
4
1
In the 3 SS patients in whom there was an improvement, phenitoin
was the first option in combination with corticosteroids [5, 34, 35].
In another patient, it was combined with blaclofen and prednisone
without response [33]. In one case, phenytoin was used as a second
option and no satisfactory response was obtained. But after several
treatment options, phenytoin was maintained combined with
corticoids and mycophenolate [37]. In another case, phenytoin was
used as second option treatment with carbamazepine, but it was not
effective [32]. Averianov reported its use, but without effectiveness [36].
Baclofen
3
1
2
0
0
3
3
It has been used as a first option treatment only in one SS patient [50].
In another patient, multiple muscle relaxants and anticonvulsants were
used without satisfactory results [42]. Baclofen was used in combination
with phenytoin and prednisone in another patient [33]. In none of the
cases the treatment had a good clinical response.
Clotiapine and
biperidene
1
1
0
0
0
1
1
It was not effective [51].
Clonazepam
3
0
2
1
0
3
3
Clonazepam was used in combination with carbamazepine without
improvement [9] and the SS patient required changing treatment to
dantrolene. Clonazepam was used in a patient adding it to dantrolene,
but it was necessary to change treatment to phenytoin and
carbamazepine [32]. In one patient clonazepam was used together
with several other drugs such as dantrolene, carbamazepine or
diazepam [42].
Tetrazepam
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
Tetrazepam in combination with carbamazepine improved spasms in
a patient with SS [39].
Otilonium
bromide
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
It was used in combination with carbamazepine with disappearance
of spasms and diarrhea [38]
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Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
Table 2 Non-immunosuppresive drugs used in the therapy of SS patients
Change of Comments
Improvement No
Number of Monotherapy As initial treatment As second or
improvement treatment
further-line
in combination
times used as initial
treatment option
with other drugs
treatment
Phenobarbital
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
Phenobarbital was used in a SS patient who was also receiving
carbamazepine, quinine sulfate and chlorpromazine treatment.
But it was not effective either [40].
Quinine sulfate
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
Quinine sulfate was used in a patient who was also receiving
carbamazepine, phenobarbital and chlorpromazine treatment.
But it was not effective either [40].
Chlorpromazine
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
Chlorpromazine was used in a patient who was also receiving
carbamazepine, quinine sulfate and phenobarbital treatment.
But it was not effective either [40].
Acetazolamide
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
Acetazolamide improved muscle symptoms in a patient [36]. It was
used in this patient after thioridazine, haloperidol and phenytoin were
unsuccessful.
Neostigmine
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
Neostigmine was used in combination with traditional Chinese
medicine in a patient with myasthenia. The authors stated that
she remained stable after 8 months of follow-up [40].
Botulinum toxin 3
0
1
2
3
0
1
Botulinum toxin was used together with corticosteroids in a patient
as a primary therapy. Treatment was changed by adding azathioprine
[59]. In one case, botulinum toxin was added to the treatment to
control masticatory spasms [47]. In another case, it was used after
several previous treatments with dantrolene, diazepam, clonazepam,
phenytoin and carbamazepine [32].
Amitriptilin
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
Amitriptilin was used in combination with corticosteroids as a
maintenance therapy [61].
Thioridazine
1
1
0
0
0
1
1
[36]
Haloperidol
1
0
0
1
0
1
1
[36]
Diazepam
2
1
0
1
1
1
1
It was combined with several other treatments such as immunoglobulin
therapy, cyclophosphamide and azatioprine [51]. Although this patient
improved, it is difficult to attribute her improvement to diazepam.
In another patient diazepam was used together with multiple muscle
relaxants and anticonvulsants without satisfactory results [42].
Midazolam
1
1
0
0
0
1
0
The patient developed a neuroleptic malignant syndrome after the
onset of iv midazolam and died [52].
(2019) 14:146
Drug
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
Table 2 Non-immunosuppresive drugs used in the therapy of SS patients (Continued)
Page 6 of 13
Drug
Number of Monotherapy as In combination
As second or other Improvement Not
Change of Comments
times used initial treatment with other drugs as treatment option
improvement treatment
initial treatment
Systemic
corticosteroids
30
8
14
8
28
2
4
In one case the treatment was changed to dantrolene for l
ack of efficacy [33]. In a case that had been previously treated
with carbamazepine and otilonium bromide, systemic
corticosteroids were prescribed for alopecia. However,
treatment was interrupted a month later due to the
appearance of adverse effects [13]. In one case, corticosteroids
showed improvement of short duration and the treatment was
changed [37]. In another case, a single pulse of corticosteroid
diminished the frequency of muscle spasms during two weeks,
but therapy was changed to cyclophosphamide and
subsequently to azathioprine [51].
9
1
3
5
4
5
6
In one case, immunoglobulin therapy was used alone as a
first option without improvement [64]. In two cases,
immunoglobulin therapy was used in combination with
corticosteroids [60, 67]. In one case, it was used as a first
option in combination with dantrolene, but treatment was
changed to pulsed treatment of methylprednisolone together
with dantrolene [47]. In another case, immunoglobulin therapy
was used as a second option after short-term improvement with
corticoids and mycophenolate mofetil, with no response [37].
In another patient they were also used as second option
treatment together with diazepam [51]. Endo used them as a
second option with effect for 2 months and then changing to
corticoids [50]. Arita used it as second option treatment after
dantrolene with satisfactory response [3]. The treatment with
immunoglobulin therapy was changed in six cases
[37, 47, 50, 51, 64, 69]
Cyclosporin
2
0
2
0
2
0
0
In one of the cases, both alopecia and spasms improved.
In the other case, improvement of spasms was achieved,
but it was less effective for alopecia [5]
Page 7 of 13
Immunoglobulin
therapy
(2019) 14:146
Corticosteroids have been combined with other
immunosuppressants in 7 cases. In 5 patients as initial
treatment [5, 37, 60, 67] and in two patients after other
treatments [50, 62]. Corticosteroids were combined with
immunoglobulin therapy in two patients, [60, 67] with
mycophenolate mofetil in one patient [37], with cyclosporin
in two patients reported by Rudnicka [5], with methotrexate
in one patient [62] and with tacrolimus in another patient [50].
Other immunosuppressants have been used in combination
to low doses of corticosterois, such as methotrexate [63],
azathioprine [59]. Corticosteroids have also been used in
combination with other drugs such as baclofen [33],
phenytoin [5, 33–35], dantrolene [6, 46], carbamazepine
[2, 41] and botulinum toxin [59]. In one patient initially treated
with corticosteroids in monotherapy, amitriptyline was added
later [61].
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
Table 3 Corticosteroids and immunossuppresants drugs used in SS patients
Change of Comments
As second or other Improvement Not
Number of Monotherapy as In combination
improvement treatment
times used initial treatment with other drugs as treatment option
initial treatment
Mycophenolate
mofetil
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
The initial treatment in this patient was with corticosteroids
and mycophenolate mofetil. Later phenytoin was added.
Treatment was changed due to short-term improvement.
The treatment was changed to immunoglobulin without
response, and subsequently, to plasmapheresis (5 cycles) with
improvement in pain and cramps. Later this same case was
treated with a combination of phenytoin, mycophenolate and
corticosteroids [37], thus it can be deduced that mycophenolate
and corticosteroids adminstarion was maintained throughout the
course of the treatment.
Azathioprine
2
0
0
2
2
0
0
It was used after treatment with both botulinum toxin and
corticosteroids to help lower the dose of corticosteroids [59].
In another case it was used after multiple treatments [51]
Plasmapheresis
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
It was used after short-term improvement with both
corticosteroids and mycophenolate mofetil as the first option,
and failure of immunoglobulin therapy as a second option.
After plasmapheresis (5 cycles) the patient improved in pain
and cramps [37]
Methotrexate
2
0
0
2
2
0
0
In one case it was used together with prednisone [62], and
in another case it was added to corticosteroids due to loss
of effect [63]
Tacrolimus
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
It was used together with corticosteroids after trying other
treatments [50]
Cyclophosphamide 1
0
0
1
0
1
1
It was used together with diazepam after trying other
treatments, and was later changed to azathioprine [51]
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Drug
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
Table 3 Corticosteroids and immunossuppresants drugs used in SS patients (Continued)
Page 8 of 13
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
(2019) 14:146
immunoglobulin therapy [60, 67] and one patient with
tacrolimus [50].
In another two cases, immunosuppressants were subsequently used to lower the dose of corticosteroids in
two patients (methotrexate in one patient [63] and azathioprine in another one patient [59]).
The corticosteroid drugs used were prednisone (12 patients) [2, 5, 33, 41, 55, 56, 59–62, 64], prednisolone (12
patients) [6, 34, 35, 37, 42, 50, 54, 58, 63, 65–67],methylprednisolone (6 patients) [37, 42, 46, 47, 50, 51] and triamcinolone (in one case) [5]. Two additional patients
were treated with corticosteroids without specifying the
drug used [53, 57]. In five patients, methylprednisolone
was administered as intravenous boluses at a high dose
[42, 46, 50, 51, 63] during a period of 3 days that could
be extended for up to 4–6 weeks [63]. The doses of oral
corticosteroids ranged from 2 mg / kg / day of prednisolone [65] to 0.3 mg / kg / day of prednisone [5], with subsequent dose reductions.
Taken together, 28 out of 30 patients (93%) responded
to a regimen that included corticosteroids. The optimal
treatment duration could not be clearly determined,
since in most of the published clinical cases the followup time was limited. That notwithstanding, improvement was reported at two or more years of follow-up
[35, 46].
Other immunosuppressive drugs
Other immunosuppressive drugs including cyclosporine,
mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine, methotrexate, tacrolimus and cyclophosphamide, were used in 9 cases
for the treatment of SS. In eight patients they were used
in combination with corticosteroids. Table 3 reports the
number of times these drugs have been tested in the
treatment of SS.
Cyclosporine at a dose of 50 mg daily was used in two
patients (two mg/kg/day in one of the patients and 3.33
mg/kg/day in the other) in combination with prednisone
[5]. Both patients showed improvement of the spasms
and only one of them had an improvement in alopecia.
Azathioprine was also used in two cases. In one of them,
azathioprine was used in monotherapy after having tried
other treatment options that included clotiapine, biperiden, cyclophosphamide, diazepam, immunoglobulin therapy and a 3-day cycle of high doses of methylprednisolone
[51]. In the other case, azathioprine was prescribed to
lower corticosteroid doses due to side effects [59].
Methotrexate was another drug from this group
that was used for two patients. In an adult patient it
was used at a dose of 7.5 mg weekly together with 30
mg daily of prednisone, resulting in improvement of
all symptoms within weeks, excepting alopecia [62].
In the other case (a 14-year-old girl), methotrexate
was added to corticosteroids at a dose of 10 mg/m2
Page 9 of 13
once a week to enhance effects, and reduce the dose
of corticosteroids [63].
Mycophenolate mofetil was used in a 30-year-old patient [37], originally together with corticosteroids. After
an initial response, the patient worsened and treatment
with phenytoin was added. Because of the poor control
of symptoms, treatment with immunoglobulin therapy
was tried, but also without success. Later plasmapheresis
was prescribed (5 cycles), improving cramps and pain.
As a maintenance treatment, the patient continued with
corticoids, mycophenolate, and phenytoin.
Intravenous human immunoglobulin therapy
Immunoglobulin therapy was used in 9 cases [3, 37, 47,
50, 51, 60, 64, 67, 69] and it was the second most frequently used immunosuppressive treatment after corticosteroids. In 4 cases, treatment with immunoglobulin
therapy was part of the initial treatment of patients with
SS [47, 60, 64, 67]. Only in one case immunoglobulin
therapy was used in monotherapy as the first therapeutic
option, but no improvement of the patient was achieved
[64]. In 3 other patients, immunoglobulin therapy was
used as initial treatment in combination with either corticosteroids (2 patients) [60, 67] or dantrolene (1 patient)
[47]. In five patients they were not used as part of the
initial treatment regimens [3, 37, 50, 51, 69]. In one of
these cases immunoglobulin therapy were added after
treating the patient with corticoids, mycophenolate
mofetil and phenytoin, without showing efficacy [37].
Another case was an adult woman in whom immunoglobulin therapy were a second treatment option in
combination with diazepam [51]. In this patient, the effect of a 5-days cycle of immunoglobulin therapy was
beneficial in the improvement of muscular spasms for
6–8 weeks. After 2 cycles, immunoglobulin therapy was
stopped and changed to cyclophosphamide, as her medical insurance company was unwilling to pay for additional immunoglobulin therapy cycles. In three other
patients, immunoglobulin therapy were used as monotherapy after having tested dantrolene (1 patient) [3] and
baclofen (1 patient) [50] or carbamacepine and gabapentin (1 patient) [69, 70]. In the first two cases, both
patients improved but in one of the cases the improvement was brief, and treatment changed to corticoids
[50]. The third patient did not improve [69]. In summary, only 4 out of the 9 patients treated with immunoglobulin therapy, obtained some degree of favorable
response (44%).
Other treatments
Botulinum toxin was employed in three patients for controlling masticatory muscle spasms [32, 47, 59]. In one
of them, botulinum toxin was used injected into both
masseter muscles to control the trismus as a first
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
(2019) 14:146
treatment option together with systemic corticosteroids
[59]. Merello et al. reported the use of botulinum toxin
because of poor control of spasms with other treatments
such as dantrolene, diazepam, clonazepam, phenytoin
and carbamazepine [32].
Muscle massage together with analgesics such as paracetamol, did not achieve any improvement [65]. Techniques of traditional Chinese medicine were used
together with neostigmine in a patient with SS and myasthenia. The authors reported that after 8 months the
patient was stable [40].
Topical corticosteroid treatment was tested in three patients with alopecia, without beneficial results [5, 13, 64].
There is only one case reporting a response to diphencyprone, a drug used for alopecia areata [13]. Kamat et al.
reported a patient who started treatment with minoxidil
followed by topical steroids after he began losing hair on
his scalp. Despite this treatment, he continued experiencing hair loss on his scalp [64]. Another patient reported
by Ashalata et al., tried the treatment with minoxidil before the diagnosis was made, but without favorable result
[35]. In one case, UVB rays were used to try to improve
alopecia, but also without result [13].
For the control of diarrhea, a diet with restriction of
simple carbohydrates was tried without results [2]. In
another case with significant digestive manifestations,
parenteral hyperalimentation was administered with
weight improvement but without resolution of diarrhea,
amenorrhea or alopecia [68]. Subsequently, this patient
suffered episodes of recurrent pancreatitis attributed to
stenosis of the duodenal papilla due to fibrosis of the
duodenal mucosa. Gastrojejunostomy, percutaneous enterostomy, and percutaneous cholangiostomy were performed. The patient died a few months later due to
sepsis [68]. This patient did not received therapy with
corticosteroids or immunosuppressants.
In one case, the authors comment that treatment with
estradiol and norgestrel was started to achieve regular
menstrual cycles as well as breast development [63].
Growth hormone was also used to achieve greater
growth [38]. In some patients, orthopedic surgery was
necessary due to skeletal alterations [35, 65, 73].
Prognosis
Since the introduction of corticosteroids in the treatment, the prognosis of patients with Satoyoshi syndrome
has improved. We found seven patients who died due to
SS in the literature search [1, 52, 68]. Five out of these
seven cases were described by Satoyoshi in 1978 [1]. The
two other cases were those described by Nagahama et al.
[68] and by Adachi et al. [52]. The first one was a patient
with digestive manifestations and lesions compatible
with cystic gastroenteritis. He died due to sepsis after
suffering several episodes of recurrent pancreatitis and
Page 10 of 13
undergoing biliary and gastrojejunal surgery. The second
case died as a consequence of a neuroleptic malignant
syndrome after the start of treatment with intravenous
midazolam. Only two one of the seven cases who died
could have received corticoids at some point.
Regarding the clinical manifestations of the syndrome,
as already mentioned, muscular symptons improve in
most cases with corticoids or dantrolene and the patient
was able to carry on with a normal life with little interference from symptoms [2, 6, 35, 41, 61, 65, 73]. A
smaller percentage of patients was able to recover from
alopecia. Although hair regrowth was reported in some
cases, complete full hair recovery was rare [2, 5, 6, 35,
41, 61, 65, 73]. Digestive symptoms also responded to
treatment with steroids, with disappearance of diarrhea
[2, 41, 46]. Menstruation also reappeared in many of the
patients [35, 41, 66, 73].
Discussion
Our review suggests that the best treatment for SS was
corticosteroids administration. These drugs have been
the primary treatment that has allowed an improvement
in the prognosis of this disease. This improvement in
prognosis is reflected in the fact that after the cases reported by Satoyoshi, mortality has been nil in the cases
that received corticoid treatment. However, the appropriate duration of treatment, best corticosteroids dose,
or the indication and time to add other immunosuppressive drugs, are still unknown. Other immunosuppressive
drugs have been scarcely used, and most of the times
they were administered in association with corticosteroids to reduce their dose or avoid adverse effects. Thus,
it is not currently known whether their addition to corticosteroids allows increasing the efficacy of the treatment. Anticonvulsants and muscle relaxants were widely
used in the first patients described [32, 33, 42, 49]. These
drugs have not shown to be effective. In general, patients
that improved with these drugs also received therapy
with corticosteroids [2, 5, 34, 35, 41, 46, 47], therefore
making difficult to assess the actual improvement of
symptoms they cause. Only dantrolene showed efficacy
in controlling muscle manifestations, but it failed to improve other symptoms of SS. Also, the management of
SS includes not only pharmacological treatment but also
other therapeutic approaches such as splints, botulinum
toxin, dental procedures, surgery and orthopedic therapies and rehabilitation.
Among the limitations of this review are that it is
based on case reports with a small number of patients,
sometimes with an incomplete description and with a
short follow-up. As with other rare diseases, there are
no treatment guidelines or recommendations based on
comparative studies. However, the review of the literature
points towards a combination of immunosuppressant
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
(2019) 14:146
drugs based on corticosteroids. In addition, because only a
few patients have been followed in the long-term, it is not
possible to make recommendations about the duration of
therapy or the rate of reduction of corticosteroids over
time. On the other hand, the recorded response to treatment in SS patients was mainly clinical. There are no biological markers to predict or monitor the effect due to the
medication.
Clinical experience supports the probable association
between autoimmunity and Satoyoshi syndrome. In the
next years, it is likely that further research may determine the role of specific autoantibodies in the pathogenesis and help the management of Satoyoshi syndrome.
The discovery of the presence of antibodies against brain
[75, 79] and gastrointestinal tissue [75] by means of
western blot, opens a way to identify specific autoantibodies related to the pathogenesis of this syndrome
which may become a diagnostic tool in the future.
On the other hand, the study of familial aggregation
and possible genetic component of this disease is hampered by a lack of reports on the descendants of affected
patients. The fact that amenorrhea or uterine hypoplasia
are among the possible manifestations in women with
SS make it difficult for these patients to have offspring.
The association of SS with an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern [62] opens a new avenue of research in
this field.
Another challenge is to achieve the collaboration
among the different specialists who have treated SS patients, and particularly, the creation of an international
registry of SS cases. Data from this future international
registry should help to correlate the genetic and autoimmune information with the clinical characteristics and
response to treatment.
Conclusions
Satoyoshi syndrome is a rare disease with characteristic
manifestations that make its clinical diagnosis easy if it
is suspected. Since its description in the decade of the
60s, a multitude of drugs have been tested for its treatment. Our review suggests that the best treatment for SS
was corticosteroids administration. Corticosteroids were
the most widely used type of drugs (with different regimens, dosages and formulations), with the best results.
However the differences in treatments, impaired followup data and small number of cases prevents any definitive conclusions. The use of corticosteroids and immunosuppressants has improved prognosis significantly.
Other than corticosteroids and immunosuppressants,
the drug that obtained the best response in the control
of muscle spasms was dantrolene. This drug can be used
in conjunction with corticosteroids or other immunosuppressants, although it has failed to show effect in
non-muscular manifestations.
Page 11 of 13
Pending issues are: the optimal treatment duration to
achieve a sustained response with minimal side effects,
the optimal dose of corticosteroids to be used, or
whether the use of high dose intravenous boluses of corticosteroids every 4 to 6 weeks is better than daily oral
doses. It is not clear either whether the combined use
with methotrexate, azathioprine or cyclosporine is an alternative that will allow reducing or suspending corticoid treatment after a certain period of time.
SS is a complex and multisystemic disease. The approach to patients must be individualized according to
the patient’s manifestations, requiring a multidisciplinary
team for their management. As it happens in other rare
diseases, only data sharing and coordinated research
among different clinical and research groups can lead to
results that improve the clinical management of SS
patients.
Abbreviations
SS: Satoyoshi Syndrome; WOS: Web of Science
Acknowledgements
Not applicable.
Authors’ contributions
JS, JSGP and CdC conceived and designed the work. JSGP and CdC did the
literature search and collected data. JSGP, CdC and JS revised and analyzed
data. JSGP, CdC and JS drafted and revised the final manuscript and approved
the submitted version.
Authors’ information
CdC: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2144-0107
JSGP: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8361-2090
JS: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9517-3083
Funding
This paper was not funded.
Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any
organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the
subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes
employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert
testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
Author details
1
Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital General de Villarrobledo,
Villarrobledo, Spain. 2Research Department, Neuropsychopharmacology Unit,
Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Albacete, Albacete, Spain.
3
Department of Internal Medicine, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de
Albacete, Albacete, Spain. 4Department of Medical Sciences, Falculty of
Medicine, Universidad de Castilla – La Mancha, Albacete, Spain. 5Hospital
General Universitario de Albacete, Unidad de Neuropsicofarmacología,
Edificio de Investigación, 3ª planta, c/ Hermanos Falcó, 37, E-02008 Albacete,
Spain.
Solís-García del Pozo et al. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases
(2019) 14:146
Received: 3 April 2019 Accepted: 7 June 2019
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