scholarly journals Semiology of pathological conditions in patients indicated for stereotactic biopsy

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 345-350
Author(s):  
Jagos Golubovic ◽  
Petar Vulekovic ◽  
Djula Djilvesi ◽  
Mladen Karan ◽  
Bojan Jelaca ◽  
...  

Introduction. Brain tumors produce symptoms and signs which are often non-specific, and therefore they may occur for more than a few months prior to diagnosis. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of referent signs and symptoms among patients referred for stereotactic brain biopsy. Material and Methods. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed medical history of 65 patients (67.7% males and 32.3% females) between the ages of 16 and 81 years. The following symptoms and signs were included in the analysis: organic brain syndrome, lateralization of crossed pyramidal tract, cranial nerve dysfunction, speech disorders, cerebellar-vestibular syndrome, nausea, vomiting, headache, the occurrence of at least one epileptic seizure and respondents? physical weakness. Results. Physical weakness was the most frequent symptom to be recognized (76.9%), whereas pyramidal neurological lateralization was the most commonly recognized sign (58.5%). There was a significant correlation between the course of disease and physical weakness (rho = -0.34, p = 0.005), as well as the course of disease and lateralization of the pyramidal tract (rho = 0.65, p = 0.00). No significant correlation was found between other clinical signs and symptoms. Conclusion. An accurate diagnosis and early recognition of signs and symptoms may be useful in determining indications for stereotactic brain biopsy.

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (05) ◽  
pp. 641-651
Author(s):  
Mareye Voortman ◽  
Barney J. Stern ◽  
Lesley Ann Saketkoo ◽  
Marjolein Drent

AbstractNeurosarcoidosis (NS) is an often severe, destructive manifestation with a likely under-reported prevalence of 5 to 15% of sarcoidosis cases, and in its active phase demands timely treatment intervention. Clinical signs and symptoms of NS are variable and wide-ranging, depending on anatomical involvement. Cranial nerve dysfunction, cerebrospinal parenchymal disease, aseptic meningitis, and leptomeningeal disease are the most commonly recognized manifestations. However, non-organ-specific potentially neurologically driven symptoms, such as fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and small fiber neuropathy, appear frequently.Heterogeneous clinical presentations and absence of any single conclusive test or biomarker render NS, and sarcoidosis itself, a challenging definitive diagnosis. Clinical suspicion of NS warrants a thorough systemic and neurologic evaluation hopefully resulting in supportive extraneural physical exam and/or tissue findings. Treatment targets the severity of the manifestation, with careful discernment of whether NS reflects active potentially reversible inflammatory granulomatous disease versus inactive postinflammatory damage whereby functional impairment is unlikely to be pharmacologically responsive. Non-organ-specific symptoms are poorly understood, challenging in deciphering reversibility and often identified too late to respond to conventional immunosuppressive/pharmacological treatment. Physical therapy, coping strategies, and stress reduction may benefit patients with all disease activity levels of NS.This publication provides an approach to screening, diagnosis, disease activity discernment, and pharmacological as well as nonpharmacological treatment interventions to reduce disability and protect health-related quality of life in NS.


2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 482-487
Author(s):  
H. Shamo'on ◽  
A. Hawamdah ◽  
R. Haddadin ◽  
S. Jmeian

To determine the most useful clinical symptoms and signs for detection of pneumonia in children, we carried out a prospective clinical study at Queen Alia Hospital, Amman, on 147 children admitted between August 2002 and January 2003 with clinical pneumonia. All the children had chest X-rays, which were read by the same radiologist. The most sensitive and specific signs and symptoms for prediction of pneumonia were coughing, tachypnoea [respiratory rate > 50/min] and chest wall indrawing. We found that presence of tachypnoea and lower chest wall indrawing can detect most cases of pneumonia. If all clinical signs are negative, chest X-ray findings are unlikely to be positive


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Xiang ◽  
Jiajia Fang ◽  
Yi Guo

Abstract Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures present as paroxysmal symptoms and signs mimicking epileptic seizures. The gold standard test is the synchronous recording by video, electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram. However, video electroencephalogram is not available at many centers and not entirely independent of semiology. Recent studies have focused on semiological characteristics distinguishing these two circumstances. Clinical signs and symptoms provide important clues when making differential diagnosis. The purpose of this review is to help physicians differentiating psychogenic nonepileptic seizures better from epileptic seizures based on semiology, and improve care for those patients.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena V Varlamov ◽  
Dan Alexandru Niculescu ◽  
Swechya Banskota ◽  
Simona Andreea Galoiu ◽  
Catalina Poiana ◽  
...  

Purpose: The number of international acromegaly-related registries is increasing; however, heterogeneity of acromegaly symptoms and signs across countries is not well described. We compared clinical disease manifestations at diagnosis between two large University referral centers from two continents. Methods: Retrospective, comparative epidemiological study of acromegaly patients at two centers; 1) C. I. Parhon National Institute of Endocrinology, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania (Parhon), and 2) Pituitary Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, United States (OHSU) from approved registries was undertaken. Data were extracted from medical charts and questionnaires. Binary logistic regression analysis was undertaken for the most frequently noted symptoms and clinical signs. Results: Study included 216 patients (87 Parhon, 129 OHSU). Age, sex and median delay in diagnosis were similar between centers. IGF-1 index was higher in patients at Parhon (3.3 vs 2.1, p < 0.001). The top five symptoms at both centers were; enlarged hands/feet, headache, arthralgia, fatigue, and irregular menses in women. A significant difference was noted for multiple signs and symptoms frequency, often >20 percentage points between centers. Center was a predictor of many signs and symptoms, independent of acromegaly biochemical severity or disease duration. Conclusion: We show in the first comparative study that differences in medical practice, documentation, and likely cultural differences can influence patients’ symptom(s) reporting and screening patterns in geographically different populations. Pooling data into large multicenter international registries databases may lead to loss of regional characteristics and thus a mixed overall picture of combined cohorts.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Dimitroulis ◽  
Serena Valsami ◽  
Paraskevas Stamopoulos ◽  
Gregory Kouraklis

Infection with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is affecting about 3% of the world's population, leading to liver damage, end-stage liver disease, and development of hepatocellular carcinoma, being thus the first indication for liver transplantation in the USA. Apart from the cirrhotic-liver-derived clinical signs and symptoms several conditions with immunological origin can also arise, such as, glomerulonephritis, pulmonary fibrosis, and thrombocytopenia. HCV-related autoimmune thrombocytopenia shows specific pathogenetic characteristics as well as symptoms and signs that differ in severity and frequency from symptoms in patients that are not HCV infected. Aim of this short paper is to estimate the epidemiological characteristics of the disease, to investigate the pathogenesis and clinical manifestation, and to propose treatment strategies according to the pertinent literature.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Tammelin

Swedish nursing homes are obliged to have a management system for systematic quality work including self-monitoring of which surveillance of infections is one part. The Department of Infection Control in Stockholm County Council has provided a simple system for infection surveillance to the nursing homes in Stockholm County since 2002. A form is filled in by registered nurses in the nursing homes at each episode of infection among the residents. A bacterial infection is defined by antibiotic prescribing and a viral infection by clinical signs and symptoms. Yearly reports of numbers of infections in each nursing home and calculated normalized figures for incidence, i.e. infections per 100 residents per year, as well as proportion of residents with urinary catheter are delivered to the medically responsible nurses in each municipality by the Department of Infection Control. Number of included residents has varied from 4,531 in 2005 to 8,157 in 2014 with a peak of 10,051 in 2009. The yearly incidences during 2005 - 2014 (cases per 100 residents) were: Urinary tract infection (UTI) 7.9-16.0, Pneumonia 3.7-5.3, Infection of chronic ulcer 3.4–6.8, Other infection in skin or soft tissue 1.4–2.9, Clostridium difficile-infection 0.2–0.7, Influenza 0–0.4 and Viral gastroenteritis 1.2–3.7. About 1 % of the residents have a suprapubic urinary catheter, 6–7 % have an indwelling urinary catheter. Knowledge about the incidence of UTI has contributed to the decrease of this infection both in residents with and without urinary catheter.


2019 ◽  
Vol 06 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haleh Tajadini ◽  
Naser Ebrahimpour ◽  
Mahdieyh Khazaneha

: The prevalence of primary hypothyroidism is increasing in adults (PHTA), and the reduction in the threshold for treatment and also the requirement to increase drug usage are major problems in approaching this disorder. Persian Medicine (PM) looks from a different view on etiology of diseases. Therefore, we tried to present the etiologies of PHTA according to an important book of PM i.e. “Zakhire Kharazmshahi”. Method: At first, the common symptoms and signs of PHTA were identified by investigating the Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane databases and their Persian equivalents were extracted from PM sources. These synonyms were searched as keywords in the book and the primary causes that were mentioned in association with the signs and symptoms were extracted. Then, we explained the total etiologies that were discussed for the occurrence of the causes, with respect to the principles of health care in PM. Results: "Cold distemperament", an increase in "Phlegmatic Humor ", an increase in "Melancholic Humor" and "Emtela" (repletion) were recognized as four main causes of PHTA. According to the book, the most important etiologies of these conditions are insufficient exercise, overeating, food intake before total stomach emptying and excessive amounts of cold temperament substances (foods, herbs, seeds, spices, etc.) in daily diet. Conclusion: From the viewpoint of PM, lifestyle spatially eating habits and physical activity play important causative roles in occurring and prognosis of PHTA. Hence, it is recommended to assess these results by more observations and clinical studies.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 498
Author(s):  
Mark Reinwald ◽  
Peter Markus Deckert ◽  
Oliver Ritter ◽  
Henrike Andresen ◽  
Andreas G. Schreyer ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are prone to intensified exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the ongoing pandemic. We prospectively analyzed the prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in HCWs at baseline and follow up with regard to clinical signs and symptoms in two university hospitals in Brandenburg, Germany. (2) Methods: Screening for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA and IgG antibodies was offered to HCWs at baseline and follow up two months thereafter in two hospitals of Brandenburg Medical School during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany in an ongoing observational cohort study. Medical history and signs and symptoms were recorded by questionnaires and analyzed. (3) Results: Baseline seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgA was 11.7% and increased to 15% at follow up, whereas IgG seropositivity was 2.1% at baseline and 2.2% at follow up. The rate of asymptomatic seropositive cases was 39.5%. Symptoms were not associated with general seropositivity for anti-SARS-CoV-2; however, class switch from IgA to IgG was associated with increased symptom burden. (4) Conclusions: The seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 was low in HCWs but higher compared to population data and increased over time. Screening for antibodies detected a significant proportion of seropositive participants cases without symptoms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahad Alabbas ◽  
Ghaleb Elyamany ◽  
Talal Alanzi ◽  
Tahani Bin Ali ◽  
Fatma Albatniji ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare and potentially fatal syndrome that is characterized by strong activation of the immune system from hyperinflammatory cytokines. Symptoms of HLH patients include fever, hepatosplenomegaly, cytopenia, and hyperferritinemia. Inherited HLH is classified as primary, whereas secondary HLH (sHLH) occurs when acquired from non-inherited reasons that include severe infection, immune deficiency syndrome, autoimmune disorder, neoplasm, and metabolic disorder. Wolman’s disease (WD) is a rare and fatal infantile metabolic disorder caused by lysosomal acid lipase deficiency, that exhibits similar clinical signs and symptoms as HLH. This paper reports the case of an infant diagnosed with WD and who presented with sHLH. Case presentation A 4-month-old infant presenting with hepatosplenomegaly, failure to thrive, and other abnormalities. WD diagnosis was confirmed by the presence of the LIPA gene homozygous deletion c.(428 + 1_967-1)_(*1_?)del. The infant also met the HLH-2004 diagnostic criteria. Conclusions Metabolic disorder such as WD should be investigated in infants fulfilling the HLH criteria to diagnose the underlying condition. More studies are needed to understand the link between WD and sHLH and to identify appropriate therapies.


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