RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Clinical analysis of adult-o

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are genetically heteroge-neous neurodegenerative disorders associated with progres-sive ataxia or less commonly episodic ataxia. Adult-onset patients mainly inherit the condition by autosomal dominant transmission. Phenotypes often accompany various non-ataxic signs including saccadic abnormal-ities, ophthalmoplegia, extrapyramidal features, pyr-amidal signs, polyneuropathy, amyotrophy, fasciculation, dementia, and macular degeneration [1]. To date, the Human Genome Nomenclature Committee has assigned types of SCAs into SCA1 to SCA37 in association with 31 chromosomal loci and genes [1-5]. Machado-Joseph dis-ease (MJD) or SCA3 is generally the most common form of SCA worldwide [6-8]. Other common types of SCAs in various ethnic groups include SCA1, SCA2, SCA6, SCA