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Start free with EleplanFocal stiff limb syndrome
ORPHA:443804Clinical subtype
Also called Focal stiff-person syndrome · Stiff leg syndrome
What it is
A rare stiff person spectrum disorder characterized by painful episodic spasms (which are often precipitated by touch, pain, cold, movement, or negative emotions), increased stimulus sensitivity including hyperekplexia, as well as stiffness, in a lower or upper limb, typically with insidious onset and progression over months or years. The condition may eventually progress into classic stiff person syndrome. Fear of leaving the house and walking unaided is characteristic. Most patients have autoantibodies in serum and CSF, in particular anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies. In rare cases, the syndrome is of paraneoplastic origin.
Key facts
- Age of onset
- Adult
- Inheritance
- Not applicable
- Classified as
- Clinical subtype
Recorded for the broader condition
- Prevalence
- 1-9 / 1 000 000 (Europe)Stiff person spectrum disorder
Orphanet records these for the broader condition rather than for this specific form. They are a starting point, not a figure for this subtype — subtypes often differ, and some are defined by being rarer than the condition they sit under.
Signs and symptoms
Common30–79%
10These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.
ICD-10 codes
ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.
Related health topics
Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.
Cross-references
Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Data version 2026-06-23. Available under CC BY 4.0. This is a reference, not medical advice.
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