scholarly journals Intractable Hiccups due to Isolated Parainfectious Myelitis

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 202-204
Author(s):  
Samhita Panda ◽  
Diwakar Verma

AbstractDemyelinating disorders of the central nervous system are diseases that affect the optic nerves, brain, and spinal cord, leading to visual loss, brainstem dysfunction, and locomotor dysfunction. Intractable vomiting is a rare phenomenon seen due to the involvement of the medulla oblongata in neuromyelitis optica, a rare autoimmune demyelinating disorder. We present our experience with a 33-year-old male who presented to our facility with complaints of intractable hiccups. After extensive evaluation, he was found to have parainfectious myelitis. His symptoms completely resolved following institution of appropriate therapy. Through this report, we hope to bring attention to an unusual cause of intractable hiccups that may often go undiagnosed in general practice.

Author(s):  
Siddharthan Chandran ◽  
Alastair Compston

Clinicians suspect demyelination when episodes reflecting damage to white matter tracts within the central nervous system occur in young adults. The paucity of specific biological markers of discrete demyelinating syndromes places an emphasis on clinical phenotype—temporal and spatial patterns—when classifying demyelinating disorders. The diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, the most common demyelinating disorder, becomes probable when these symptoms and signs recur, involving different parts of the brain and spinal cord. Other important demyelinating diseases include post-infectious neurological disorders (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis), demyelination resulting from metabolic derangements (central pontine myelinosis), and inherited leucodystrophies that may present in children or in adults. Accepting differences in mechanism, presentation, and treatment, two observations can usefully be made when classifying demyelinating disorders. These are the presence or absence of inflammation, and the extent of focal vs. diffuse demyelination. Multiple sclerosis is prototypic for the former, whereas dysmyelinating disorders, such as leucodystrophies are representative of the latter....


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, also known as postinfectious encephalomyelitis, is considered an autoimmune disorder that causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. It was seen mainly in pediatric population possibly due to vaccination but there have been cases identified in adult [1-9]. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis can be challenging to diagnose owing to fact that there have been many overlapping symptoms among other demyelinating disorder such multiple sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica. In this case report, we will discuss a case about a patient that presented due to acute encephalopathy and was noted to have an atypical MRI of the brain that was not consistent with results of the lumbar puncture [10-12]. Knowledge gained from this case will help bring awareness to the diagnose of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and how imaging in context with the clinical picture can help us differentiate between the various demyelinating disorders; thereby, giving a better understanding of managing these patients as management can affect prognosis and outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Cao ◽  
Daniel W. Fisher ◽  
Guadalupe Rodriguez ◽  
Tian Yu ◽  
Hongxin Dong

Abstract Background The role of microglia in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathogenesis is becoming increasingly important, as activation of these cell types likely contributes to both pathological and protective processes associated with all phases of the disease. During early AD pathogenesis, one of the first areas of degeneration is the locus coeruleus (LC), which provides broad innervation of the central nervous system and facilitates norepinephrine (NE) transmission. Though the LC-NE is likely to influence microglial dynamics, it is unclear how these systems change with AD compared to otherwise healthy aging. Methods In this study, we evaluated the dynamic changes of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in the LC-NE system in the brain and spinal cord of APP/PS1 mice and aged WT mice using immunofluorescence and ELISA. Results Our results demonstrated increased expression of inflammatory cytokines and microglial activation observed in the cortex, hippocampus, and spinal cord of APP/PS1 compared to WT mice. LC-NE neuron and fiber loss as well as reduced norepinephrine transporter (NET) expression was more evident in APP/PS1 mice, although NE levels were similar between 12-month-old APP/PS1 and WT mice. Notably, the degree of microglial activation, LC-NE nerve fiber loss, and NET reduction in the brain and spinal cord were more severe in 12-month-old APP/PS1 compared to 12- and 24-month-old WT mice. Conclusion These results suggest that elevated neuroinflammation and microglial activation in the brain and spinal cord of APP/PS1 mice correlate with significant degeneration of the LC-NE system.


Neurosurgery ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 575-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc G. Reyes ◽  
Fayez M. Homsi ◽  
Larry W. McDonald ◽  
Roberta P. Glick

Abstract In this study, we compared the suitability and accuracy of imprints, smears, and frozen sections of suspected brain and spinal cord tumors of 150 patients. Eighty-six percent of the imprints, 91% of the smears, and 99% of the frozen sections were suitable for interpretation. Among the suitable preparations, 82% of the imprints, 92% of the smears, and 99% of the frozen sections agreed with our diagnosis on paraffin sections. Although frozen sections were clearly more accurate than imprints and smears, the latter two provided diagnoses in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome where frozen sections were not done to avoid contaminating our cryostat and in a patient with an epidermoid cyst of the middle fossa that could not be adequately frozen sectioned. Our study shows that imprints and smears complement frozen sections in the intraoperative diagnosis of tumors of the central nervous system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. e247155
Author(s):  
Juan Daniel Prieto Cuadra ◽  
Maria Teresa Dawid de Vera ◽  
Eva García Carrasco ◽  
M Isabel Hierro Martín

A 39-year-old woman was referred to the neurology department due to headache, instability and difficulty walking for 5 months. Several ancillary tests were performed. The blood test showed leucocytosis and the cerebrospinal fluid revealed an increased total protein and glucose consumption. Other infections or autoimmune causes were excluded. The MRI showed non-specific brain and spinal cord lesions. Given the findings described, a differential diagnosis between granulomatous meningoencephalitis and primary tumour or metastasis was proposed. Empirical treatment with tuberculostatic agents and corticosteroids was started. The neurological state of the patient worsened, she fell into a non-responsive coma and died in few days. The clinical autopsy performed revealed an adenoid cystic carcinoma with involvement of the central nervous system that developed leptomeningeal dissemination along the spinal cord in a fluid ‘wash’ pattern.


1930 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 889-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules Freund

1. Antibodies can be extracted from the brain and spinal cord of rabbits actively or passively immunized with typhoid bacilli. 2. The titers of the antibodies in the extracts of brain and cord depend upon the titer of the blood serum. In actively immunized rabbits the following numerical relationships exist between the titers of the serum and of these organ extracts: The ratio of the titer of the serum is to the titers of extract of brain and of the spinal cord about as 100 is to 0.8; the titer of the serum is to the titer of the cerebrospinal fluid as 100 is to 0.3. In passively immunized rabbits the titer of the serum is to the titer of brain and spinal-cord extract as 100 is to 0.7. 3. The antibodies recovered from the brain are not due to the presence of blood in it for perfusion of the brain does not reduce its antibody content appreciably. 4. Antibodies penetrate into the spinal fluid from the blood even in the absence of inflammation of the meninges. When the penetration is completed the following numerical relationship exists between the titer of the serum and that of the cerebrospinal fluid: 100 to 0.25. 5. The penetration into the cerebrospinal fluid of antibodies injected intravenously proceeds at a slow rate, being completed only several hours after the immune serum has been injected. The penetration of antibodies into the tissue of the brain occurs at a very rapid rate. It is completed within 15 minutes. 6. It is very unlikely that when the immune serum is injected intravenously the antibodies reach the brain tissue by way of the cerebrospinal fluid, for (1) the antibody titer of the cerebrospinal fluid is lower than that of the brain extract, and (2) antibodies penetrate faster into the tissue of the brain than into the cerebrospinal fluid.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. E1336-E1337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daina Kashiwazaki ◽  
Kazutoshi Hida ◽  
Shunsuke Yano ◽  
Toshitaka Seki ◽  
Yoshinobu Iwasaki

Abstract OBJECTIVE Hemangiopericytomas, vascular tumors arising in soft tissue, are relatively rare in the central nervous system; they comprise less than 1% of all hemangiopericytomas. Central nervous system hemangiopericytomas occur primarily in the epidural space of the brain and spinal cord. There are no previous reports of subpial, extramedullary growing central nervous system hemangiopericytomas. CLINICAL PRESENTATION We document the first case of a subpial hemangiopericytoma with extramedullary growth in the thoracic spine. The patient was a 31-year-old man who developed progressively worsening left lower limb numbness that was followed by gait disturbance over the course of 4 months. INTERVENTION Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural tumor at the T4–T6 level of the thoracic spine. Because the patient's symptoms progressed, he underwent resection of the tumor, which had arisen in the spinal cord subpially without attachment to the dura mater. CONCLUSION The pathological diagnosis was hemangiopericytoma. Differential diagnoses include hemangioblastoma, meningioma, schwannoma, and solitary fibrous tumor, the clinical course and prognosis of which are different from hemangiopericytoma. Our experience indicates that hemangiopericytomas can occur as intradural tumors arising from the subpial portion.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Peeters ◽  
Jan W. Casselman ◽  
Stefaan J. Vandecasteele ◽  
Alexander Janssen ◽  
Bart Regaert ◽  
...  

Nocardiosis of the central nervous system is a challenging and difficult diagnosis for the clinician. The combination of infections of the brain and spinal cord is even more rare. The authors report on a patient with multiple lesions in the brainstem and cervical spinal cord. This 81-year-old immunocompetent woman presented with symptoms of progressive walking difficulty and ataxia. The results of an extensive workup with laboratory investigation, MRI, lumbar puncture, positron emission tomography (PET), and bone marrow biopsy remained inconclusive. Only after an open biopsy of a cervical lesion by an anterior approach through a partial central corpectomy of the cervical spine, was the diagnosis of nocardiosis made, allowing for specific antibiotic treatment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Iverson ◽  
Alexander Leacy ◽  
Phuc H. Pham ◽  
Sunoh Che ◽  
Emily Brouwer ◽  
...  

Abstract Aquatic bird bornavirus (ABBV), a type of avian bornavirus, has been associated with inflammation of the central and peripheral nervous systems and neurological disease in wild waterfowl in North America and Europe. The potential of ABBV to infect and cause lesions in commercial waterfowl species is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the ability of ABBV to infect and cause disease in day-old Muscovy ducks (n = 174), selected as a representative domestic waterfowl. Ducklings became infected with ABBV through both intracranial and intramuscular infection routes: upon intramuscular infection, the virus spread centripetally to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), while intracranial infection led to virus spread to the spinal cord, kidneys, proventriculus, and gonads (centrifugal spread). Infected birds developed both encephalitis and myelitis by 4 weeks post infection (wpi), which progressively subsided by 8 and 12 wpi. Despite development of microscopic lesions, clinical signs were not observed. Only five birds had choanal and/or cloacal swabs positive for ABBV, suggesting a moderate potential of Muscovy ducks to shed the virus. This is the first study to document the pathogenesis of ABBV in poultry species, and confirms the ability of ABBV to infect commercial waterfowl.


1908 ◽  
Vol 54 (225) ◽  
pp. 146-148
Author(s):  
William W. Ireland

Rothmann points out how important it is to surgeons that the localisation of lesions in the brain and spinal cord should be made with the utmost accuracy. In many cases diseases do not strike suddenly upon a nervous system previously intact. Often the circulation has been previously deranged by arterial sclerosis, which prepares the way for transitory hemiplegia or aphasia. Sometimes there is loss of function after central lesions, which disappears in longer or shorter time. Goltz and his followers have treated many effects following the extirpation of the whole or part of the cerebrum as due to what they call inhibition (Hemmung). Thus the functions of the spinal cord are much impaired after removal of the cerebral ganglia, or the lower portion of the cord loses its reflex function after section higher up, but after a while it again resumes its act$ibon.


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