scholarly journals Optic Nerve Atrophy in Heroin Intoxication

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. E. Ioyleva ◽  
A. V. Zinov’eva

Drug dependence is one of important social problems in modern society. It became more actual because of the high morbidity in young working-age patients. The central nervous system is the main target for psychoactive substances. Long-term drug intoxication results in functional and structural brain alterations, it leads to cognitive impairment and disturbances of higher mental functions rendering patients’ disadapted in their work and daily life activities. Eye disorders due to drug abuse are multifaceted and can vary from conjunctival damage to severe endogenous endophthalmitis. Opioid dependence can result not only from intentional self-administration of narcotic drugs, but also from long-term prescribed use of these medicinal products owing to their potent analgesic effect exhibited in somatically ill patients with severe chronic pain. Opioid derivatives act as partial or full agonists of three types of opioid receptors (δ, κ, and µ) extensively expressed by the neurons of the central and, to a lesser extent, peripheral nervous system. The most dangerous complication of intoxication with this group narcotic drugs is opioid induced-respiratory depression resulting in hypoxaemia and hypercapnia. The paper presents a case report of bilateral optic nerve atrophy that developed in a young female patient after a long period of intravenous heroin use. There are practically no reports of optic nerve damage due to heroin intoxication in the current literature. Possible optic nerve atrophy mechanisms under discussion include generalized hypoxia developing against a background of chronic heroin intoxication and direct toxicity of admixtures used to dilute home-made narcotic drugs. In view of the growing use of these substances, physicians have to consider their effects in the differential diagnosis in patients with atypical eye disorders.

2013 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-105
Author(s):  
R R Iskhakova ◽  
F R Saifullina

Chronic alcoholism is a disease affecting all the vital organs, including development of functional and organic eye disorders in 2-70% of cases. Alcoholic (ethanol) amblyopia with such features as slow gradient visual acuity decrease in both eyes (although visual acuity can decrease down do a very low grade, the complete blindness is rare) is among the disorders in patients with chronic alcoholism. Fundus of the eye at the beginning of the disease is normal in most of the cases, sometimes an optic nerve congestion and mild features of optic neuritis can be observed. Sometimes optic nerve hyperemia or anemia can be observed. Simple optic nerve atrophy seen as the temporal parts or the entire disc blanching can be seen at the late stages. Alcohol toxicity can also result as peripheral vision decrease, with degree of it increasing depending on the clinical manifestations of the alcoholism. Generally, eye disorders in patients with chronic alcoholism in most of the cases manifest as central retinal area damage and combination of retinal and optic nerve involvement.


2007 ◽  
Vol 74 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 130-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
András Papp ◽  
Evelyn B. Kiss ◽  
Örsi Tímár ◽  
Eszter Szabó ◽  
Árpád Berecki ◽  
...  

1963 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Grinberg

ABSTRACT Radiologically thyroidectomized female Swiss mice were injected intraperitoneally with 131I-labeled thyroxine (T4*), and were studied at time intervals of 30 minutes and 4, 28, 48 and 72 hours after injection, 10 mice for each time interval. The organs of the central nervous system and the pituitary glands were chromatographed, and likewise serum from the same animal. The chromatographic studies revealed a compound with the same mobility as 131I-labeled triiodothyronine in the organs of the CNS and in the pituitary gland, but this compound was not present in the serum. In most of the chromatographic studies, the peaks for I, T4 and T3 coincided with those for the standards. In several instances, however, such an exact coincidence was lacking. A tentative explanation for the presence of T3* in the pituitary gland following the injection of T4* is a deiodinating system in the pituitary gland or else the capacity of the pituitary gland to concentrate T3* formed in other organs. The presence of T3* is apparently a characteristic of most of the CNS (brain, midbrain, medulla and spinal cord); but in the case of the optic nerve, the compound is not present under the conditions of this study.


Author(s):  
Natalya L. Yakimova ◽  
Vladimir A. Pankov ◽  
Aleksandr V. Lizarev ◽  
Viktor S. Rukavishnikov ◽  
Marina V. Kuleshova ◽  
...  

Introduction. Vibration disease continues to occupy one of the leading places in the structure of professional pathology. In workers after the termination of contact with vibration generalization and progression of violations in an organism is noted. The pathogenetic mechanisms of the progredient course of disturbances in the nervous system in the post-contact period of vibration exposure remain insufficiently studied.The aim of the study was to test an experimental model of vibration exposure to assess the neurophysiological and morphological effects of vibration in rats in the dynamics of the post-contact period.Materials and methods. The work was performed on 168 white male outbred rats aged 3 months weighing 180–260 g. The vibration effect was carried out on a 40 Hz vibrating table for 60 days 5 times a week for 4 hours a day. Examination of animals was performed after the end of the physical factor, on the 30th, 60th and 120th day of the post-contact period. To assess the long-term neurophysiological and morphofunctional effects of vibration in rats, we used indicators of behavioral reactions, bioelectric activity of the somatosensory zone of the cerebral cortex, somatosensory and visual evoked potentials, parameters of muscle response, morphological parameters of nervous tissue.Results. In the dynamics of the post-contact period observed the preservation of violations of tentatively research, motor and emotional components of behavior. In the Central nervous system instability of activity of rhythms of an electroencephalogram, decrease in amplitude of visual evoked potentials, lengthening of latency of somatosensory evoked potentials, decrease in total number of normal neurons and astroglia is established. In the peripheral nervous system remained changes in indicators: increasing duration and latency, reducing the amplitude of the neuromuscular response.Conclusions: The experimental model allows us to study the long-term neurophysiological and morphological effects of vibration on the body. The formation and preservation of changes in behavioral activity, neurophysiological and morphological effects of vibration from the 30th to the 120th day of the post-contact period were confirmed.


Author(s):  
Taner Arpaci ◽  
Barbaros S. Karagun

Background: Leukemia is the most common pediatric malignancy. Central Nervous System (CNS) is the most frequently involved extramedullary location at diagnosis and at relapse. </P><P> Objective: To determine if Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings of optic nerves should contribute to early detection of CNS relapse in pediatric leukemia. Methods: Twenty patients (10 boys, 10 girls; mean age 8,3 years, range 4-16 years) with proven CNS relapse of leukemia followed up between 2009 and 2017 in our institution were included. Orbital MRI exams performed before and during CNS relapse were reviewed retrospectively. Forty optic nerves with Optic Nerve Sheaths (ONS) and Optic Nerve Heads (ONH) were evaluated on fat-suppressed T2-weighted TSE axial MR images. ONS diameter was measured from the point 10 mm posterior to the globe. ONS distension and ONH configuration were graded as 0, 1 and 2. Results: Before CNS relapse, right mean ONS diameter was 4.52 mm and left was 4.61 mm which were 5.68 mm and 5.66 mm respectively during CNS relapse showing a mean increase of 25% on right and 22% on left. During CNS relapse, ONS showed grade 0 distension in 15%, grade 1 in 60%, grade 2 in 25% and ONH demonstrated grade 0 configuration in 70%, grade 1 in 25% and grade 2 in 5% of the patients. Conclusion: MRI findings of optic nerves may contribute to diagnose CNS relapse by demonstrating elevated intracranial pressure in children with leukemia.


Author(s):  
Guilherme Finger ◽  
Maria Eduarda Conte Gripa ◽  
Tiago Paczko Bozko Cecchini ◽  
Tobias Ludwig do Nascimento

AbstractNocardia brain abscess is a rare clinical entity, accounting for 2% of all brain abscesses, associated with high morbidity and a mortality rate 3 times higher than brain abscesses caused by other bacteria. Proper investigation and treatment, characterized by a long-term antibiotic therapy, play an important role on the outcome of the patient. The authors describe a case of a patient without neurological comorbidities who developed clinical signs of right occipital lobe impairment and seizures, whose investigation demonstrated brain abscess caused by Nocardia spp. The patient was treated surgically followed by antibiotic therapy with a great outcome after 1 year of follow-up.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document