Neurological Complications of HIV in The Peripheral Nervous System

Author(s):  
John R Keltner ◽  
Cherine Akkari ◽  
Ronald J Ellis

HIV sensory neuropathy affects approximately 50% of persons diagnosed with HIV and, in 40%, results in disabling symptoms including paresthesia and/or pain. This chapter focuses on providing guidance to psychiatrists in the clinical management of pain in persons with HIV and sensory neuropathy. The differential diagnostic evaluation of HIV sensory neuropathy, other peripheral neuropathies, and spinal cord mimics and management of HIV sensory neuropathy are reviewed, as well as management of HIV distal neuropathic pain. The differential diagnostic evaluation of peripheral neuropathies is simplified using a graphical decision tree. The chapter also reviews the pathophysiology of HIV sensory neuropathy and warning signs of advanced disease. Procedures to diagnose HIV sensory neuropathy, including nerve conduction studies and electromyography, quantitative sensory testing, skin biopsy, and the autonomic sweat test are discussed, as are clinical aspects of HIV distal neuropathic pain. The chapter addresses the impact of HIV distal neuropathic pain on quality of life and depression and concludes with a discussion of treatments for HIV distal neuropathic pain.

2010 ◽  
pp. 5158-5165
Author(s):  
Neil Scolding

Primary neuroimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis or the Guillain–Barré syndrome are well recognized (and described elsewhere in this section), but there are numerous diverse systemic inflammatory, infective, or immunological disorders that can affect the nervous system. Autoimmune rheumatic disorders—(1) Systemic lupus erythematosus—neurological manifestations include headache, acute or subacute encephalopathy, fits, myelitis, strokes and movement disorders (including chorea and other extrapyramidal disorders), ataxia and brainstem abnormalities, cranial and peripheral neuropathies, and psychiatric and cognitive disturbances. Risk of stroke is particularly associated with the lupus anticoagulant and the primary antiphospholipid syndrome. (2) Other conditions—(a) rheumatoid arthritis: mononeuritis, cervical cord compression; (b) Sjögren’s syndrome: sensory neuropathy, myositis, various central nervous system complications; (c) Reiter’s disease: polyneuritis, radiculitis, various central nervous system manifestations....


2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Garven ◽  
Shauna Brady ◽  
Susan Wood ◽  
Melinda Hatfield ◽  
Jennifer Bestard ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain clinics have been created because of the increasing recognition of chronic pain as a very common, debilitating condition that requires specialized care. Neuropathic pain (NeP) is a multifaceted, specialized form of chronic pain that often requires input from multiple disciplines for assessment and management.OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of an interdisciplinary clinic for evaluation and treatment of patients with NeP.METHODS: Patients with heterogeneous etiologies for NeP were prospectively evaluated using an interdisciplinary approach every six months. Diagnostic evaluation, comorbidity evaluation, education, and pharmacological and/or nonpharmacological management were completed. Severity (visual analogue scale) and features of pain (Modified Brief Pain Inventory), sleep difficulties (Medical Outcomes Study – Sleep Scale), mood/anxiety disruption (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), quality of life (European Quality-of-Life Five-Domain index), health care resources use, patient satisfaction (Pain Treatment Satisfaction Scale and Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory) and self-perceived change in well-being (Patient Global Impression of Change scale) were examined at each visit.RESULTS: Pain severity only decreased after one year of follow-up, while anxiety and quality-of-life indexes improved after six months. Moderate improvements of sleep disturbance, less frequent medication use and reduced health care resource use were observed during enrollment at the NeP clinic.DISCUSSION: Despite the limitations of performing a real-world, uncontrolled study, patients with NeP benefit from enrollment in a small interdisciplinary clinic. Education and a complete diagnostic evaluation are hypothesized to lead to improvements in anxiety and, subsequently, pain severity. Questions remain regarding the long-term maintenance of these improvements and the optimal structure of specialized pain clinics.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pereira ◽  
Jay Joseph Van Bavel ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Harris

Political misinformation, often called “fake news”, represents a threat to our democracies because it impedes citizens from being appropriately informed. Evidence suggests that fake news spreads more rapidly than real news—especially when it contains political content. The present article tests three competing theoretical accounts that have been proposed to explain the rise and spread of political (fake) news: (1) the ideology hypothesis— people prefer news that bolsters their values and worldviews; (2) the confirmation bias hypothesis—people prefer news that fits their pre-existing stereotypical knowledge; and (3) the political identity hypothesis—people prefer news that allows their political in-group to fulfill certain social goals. We conducted three experiments in which American participants read news that concerned behaviors perpetrated by their political in-group or out-group and measured the extent to which they believed the news (Exp. 1, Exp. 2, Exp. 3), and were willing to share the news on social media (Exp. 2 and 3). Results revealed that Democrats and Republicans were both more likely to believe news about the value-upholding behavior of their in-group or the value-undermining behavior of their out-group, supporting a political identity hypothesis. However, although belief was positively correlated with willingness to share on social media in all conditions, we also found that Republicans were more likely to believe and want to share apolitical fake new. We discuss the implications for theoretical explanations of political beliefs and application of these concepts in in polarized political system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela Pennisi ◽  
Giuseppe Lanza ◽  
Luca Falzone ◽  
Francesco Fisicaro ◽  
Raffaele Ferri ◽  
...  

Increasing evidence suggests that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) can also invade the central nervous system (CNS). However, findings available on its neurological manifestations and their pathogenic mechanisms have not yet been systematically addressed. A literature search on neurological complications reported in patients with COVID-19 until June 2020 produced a total of 23 studies. Overall, these papers report that patients may exhibit a wide range of neurological manifestations, including encephalopathy, encephalitis, seizures, cerebrovascular events, acute polyneuropathy, headache, hypogeusia, and hyposmia, as well as some non-specific symptoms. Whether these features can be an indirect and unspecific consequence of the pulmonary disease or a generalized inflammatory state on the CNS remains to be determined; also, they may rather reflect direct SARS-CoV-2-related neuronal damage. Hematogenous versus transsynaptic propagation, the role of the angiotensin II converting enzyme receptor-2, the spread across the blood-brain barrier, the impact of the hyperimmune response (the so-called “cytokine storm”), and the possibility of virus persistence within some CNS resident cells are still debated. The different levels and severity of neurotropism and neurovirulence in patients with COVID-19 might be explained by a combination of viral and host factors and by their interaction.


Author(s):  
Biyan Nathanael Harapan ◽  
Hyeon Joo Yoo

AbstractSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus, is responsible for the outbreak of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic has become a challenging world issue. Although most COVID-19 patients primarily develop respiratory symptoms, an increasing number of neurological symptoms and manifestations associated with COVID-19 have been observed. In this narrative review, we elaborate on proposed neurotropic mechanisms and various neurological symptoms, manifestations, and complications of COVID-19 reported in the present literature. For this purpose, a review of all current published literature (studies, case reports, case series, reviews, editorials, and other articles) was conducted and neurological sequelae of COVID-19 were summarized. Essential and common neurological symptoms including gustatory and olfactory dysfunctions, myalgia, headache, altered mental status, confusion, delirium, and dizziness are presented separately in sections. Moreover, neurological manifestations and complications that are of great concern such as stroke, cerebral (sinus) venous thrombosis, seizures, meningoencephalitis, Guillain–Barré syndrome, Miller Fisher syndrome, acute myelitis, and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) are also addressed systematically. Future studies that examine the impact of neurological symptoms and manifestations on the course of the disease are needed to further clarify and assess the link between neurological complications and the clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19. To limit long-term consequences, it is crucial that healthcare professionals can early detect possible neurological symptoms and are well versed in the increasingly common neurological manifestations and complications of COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier A. Santander ◽  
Anwar Saab ◽  
Juan Manuel Revuelta-Barbero ◽  
Elena Múñez

Abstract Background Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a rare autosomal dominant disease associated with neurological complications, including cerebral abscesses (CA). They tend to be unique, supratentorial and lobar. While the surgical intervention is a rule of thumb when treating and diagnosing the etiology of these lesions, this is not always possible due to dangerous or inaccessible locations. We report the case of a patient solely treated with empiric antibiotics without stereotaxic intervention and satisfactory results. Case presentation We present the case of a 21-year-old patient with a right thalamic abscess due to HHT and pulmonary arteriovenous malformations, previously embolized, treated solely with antibiotics. At first, we contemplated the possibility of a stereotaxic biopsy, but the high-risk location and the fact that our patient received a previous full course of antibiotic treatment (in another center), made us discard this intervention because of the low diagnostic yield. We started an empiric antibiotic regime. We followed up very closely the clinical and radiological evaluation the next weeks, adjusting our antibiotic treatment when necessary. The results were favorable from both the radiological and clinical aspects and 6 months after the diagnosis the images show its almost complete disappearance. Conclusion Carefully tailored antibiotic-only regime and vigilance of its adverse effects and close radiological following is a good treatment approach when surgery is not an option.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rémi Etienne ◽  
Myriam Laurent ◽  
Aline Henry ◽  
Antoine Bioy ◽  
Julia Salleron ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Neuropathic pain is characterized by spontaneous painful symptoms. Medical therapies include the use of a capsaicin 8% patch (Qutenza®, Grünenthal Gmbh, Germany), and patients may experience a sharp burning sensation at application and removal of the patch. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of playing a standardized hypnosis recording during application, on the pain and anxiety induced by capsaicin treatment. Methods In a randomized, controlled trial, we assessed the benefits of the intervention firstly on pain and secondly on anxiety, as measured using numerical rating scales. All patients had application of the capsaicin patch, including the possibility for the patient to apply a cold patch. Participants were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups, namely the “Standard group” (no intervention), “Hypnosis group”, in which a standardized hypnotic message was played during application, or the “Music group” in which relaxing music was played during application of the patch. Results Sixty-nine patients were included. Overall, there was no significant difference in pain scores between groups (p = 0.355). Compared to standard application, anxiety was significantly lower in the hypnosis group after application (p = 0.007), with no significant difference between the standard and music arms (p = 0.271), or between the hypnosis and music arms (p = 0.423). Conclusions Listening to a standardized hypnotic message during application of a capsaicin patch was found to significantly lower anxiety. These findings indicate that the use of a hypnotic message can reduce discomfort and warrant its evaluation in other indications of pain or anxiety during treatment procedures. Trial registration NCT02822625.


2000 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulysses Fagundes-Neto ◽  
Isabel Cristina Affonso Scaletsky

Diarrheal disease is still the most prevalent and important public health problem in developing countries, despite advances in knowledge, understanding, and management that have occurred over recent years. Diarrhea is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years of age. The impact of diarrheal diseases is more severe in the earliest periods of life, when taking into account both the numbers of episodes per year and hospital admission rates. This narrative review focuses on one of the major driving forces that attack the host, namely the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and the consequences that generate malnutrition in an early phase of life. EPEC serotypes form dense microcolonies on the surface of tissue-culture cells in a pattern known as localized adherence (LA). When EPEC strains adhere to epithelial cells in vitro or in vivo they cause characteristic changes known as Attaching and Effacement (A/E) lesions. Surface abnormalities of the small intestinal mucosa shown by scanning electron microscopy in infants with persistent diarrhea, although non-specific, are intense enough to justify the severity of the clinical aspects displayed in a very young phase in life. Decrease in number and height of microvilli, blunting of borders of enterocytes, loss of the glycocalyx, shortening of villi and presence of a mucus pseudomembrane coating the mucosal surface were the abnormalities observed in the majority of patients. These ultrastructural derangements may be due to an association of the enteric enteropathogenic agent that triggers the diarrheic process and the onset of food intolerance responsible for perpetuation of diarrhea. An aggressive therapeutic approach based on appropriate nutritional support, especially the utilization of human milk and/or lactose-free protein hydrolyzate-based formulas and the adequate correction of the fecal losses, is required to allow complete recovery from the damage caused by this devastating enteropathogenic agent.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S824-S825
Author(s):  
Matthew C Fullen ◽  
Mary Chase Mize ◽  
Laura R Shannonhouse

Abstract A challenge in preventing late-life suicide is identifying and responding to persons-at-risk prior to a suicide attempt. Distressed older adults are less likely to turn to a mental health professional, meaning that community-based prevention strategies are vitally important to comprehensive prevention frameworks. Due to their “natural helper” role, nutrition services (NS) volunteers may be well-positioned to identify suicide warning signs and respond accordingly. Unfortunately, there is a lack of systematic, empirically-tested evaluations of the effectiveness of community-based strategies to prevent older adult suicide, including the use of NS volunteers. To remedy this, the authors partnered with several home- and community-based service organizations to measure the impact of training nutrition services volunteers in suicide prevention skills. The authors will present preliminary findings from this federally-funded randomized, controlled trial of suicide prevention training (i.e., ASIST; safeTALK) on late-life suicidality and its correlates.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca V. Steenaard ◽  
Laura A. Michon ◽  
Harm R. Haak

Insight into the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impact of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is important. The disease and its treatment options potentially have an impact on HRQoL. For patients with limited survival, HRQoL research is of utmost importance. We will therefore provide an overview of HRQoL studies in patients with ACC. We found six studies that measured HRQoL in 323 patients with ACC (3 cross-sectional, 1 cohort, 2 trials), all indicating a reduced HRQoL compared to the general population. The FIRMACT trial found that HRQoL of patients with ACC was reduced compared to the general population, and that chemotherapy-mitotane further reduced HRQoL even though survival improved. Clinical aspects of the disease, including cortisol and aldosterone production and adrenal insufficiency have shown great impact on HRQoL in benign disease, even after the recovery of hormonal status. However, the impact of malignant adrenal disease and treatment options on HRQoL including adrenalectomy, radiotherapy, mitotane therapy, and chemotherapy have not been sufficiently studied in patients with ACC. Although the number of HRQoL studies in patients with ACC is limited, the existing literature does indicate that ACC has a large impact on patients’ HRQoL, with disease specific aspects. Further HRQoL research in patients with ACC is essential to improve patient-centered care, preferably by using an ACC-specific HRQoL questionnaire.


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