Automobile accidents caused by unsuspected neurological disease

1973 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 581-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Keane

✓ Two patients admitted as cerebral trauma cases following single-car automobile accidents were found to have previously-unsuspected, surgically-treatable neurological diseases that undoubtedly caused the accidents. A left posterior communicating artery aneurysm was clipped in one patient and a right frontal lobe abscess aspirated in the other, with excellent results in both patients.

1975 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ira Kasoff ◽  
David L. Kelly

✓ The authors report a patient with a carotid-posterior communicating artery aneurysm; although the oculomotor palsy accompanying such an aneurysm is almost universally recognized as being complete, with pupillary involvement, this patient had pupillary sparing in the absence of subarachnoid bleeding. A few similar cases have appeared in the literature. The mechanism of pupillary sparing appears to be based on the position of the parasympathetic pupilloconstrictor fibers within the subarachnoid portion of the third nerve and on the anatomic relationship between the third nerve and the junction of the carotid and posterior communicating arteries.


1998 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 719-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wouter I. Schievink ◽  
Robert F. Spetzler

Object. Isolated polycystic liver disease, that is, polycystic liver disease without kidney cysts, is an entity distinct from polycystic kidney disease. It is not known whether patients with isolated polycystic liver disease are at an increased risk for developing intracranial aneurysms, similar to patients with polycystic kidney disease. The authors screened individuals for intracranial aneurysms in a family in which isolated polycystic liver disease occurred to study the relationship between these two disorders. Methods. Six siblings requested screening for intracranial aneurysms. Their father had died of a middle cerebral artery aneurysm. Isolated polycystic liver disease was found at autopsy. Their paternal aunt had died of a basilar artery aneurysm, but no autopsy had been performed in that case. Screening with magnetic resonance (MR) angiography and subsequent conventional angiography showed a 5-mm posterior communicating artery aneurysm in one sibling in whom abdominal ultrasound examination yielded normal findings and a posterior communicating artery infundibulum in another sibling in whom an ultrasound examination detected isolated polycystic liver disease. Screening did not detect aneurysms or polycystic liver disease in the other siblings. Thus, of the two patients with isolated polycystic liver disease in this family, one had a ruptured aneurysm and the other had an infundibulum. Conclusions. Findings in this family suggest an association between isolated polycystic liver disease and intracranial aneurysms. However, because of the delay in onset of the appearance of liver cysts in individuals who carry the disease gene, abdominal ultrasonography is not a useful method to exclude those family members at risk for aneurysm development.


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 788-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Kinouchi ◽  
Katsuya Futawatari ◽  
Kazuo Mizoi ◽  
Naoki Higashiyama ◽  
Hisashi Kojima ◽  
...  

✓ A 47-year-old man presented with a superior hypophyseal artery aneurysm and an ipsilateral posterior communicating artery aneurysm. Both lesions were successfully clipped without removal of the anterior clinoid process or retraction of the optic nerve by using endoscopic guidance. The endoscope was introduced into the prechiasmatic cistern and provided a clear visual field around the aneurysm that could not be seen via the operating microscope. The endoscope was useful in the identification of the medially projecting lesion and the small perforating branches of the ophthalmic segment of the internal carotid artery. A fenestrated clip could be introduced around the neck of the aneurysm and placed in the best position under endoscopic guidance. Endoscopy-assisted clipping is potentially a very useful procedure for aneurysm surgery.


1999 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Ohata ◽  
Toshihiro Takami ◽  
Alaa El-Naggar ◽  
Michiharu Morino ◽  
Akimasa Nishio ◽  
...  

✓ The treatment of spinal intramedullary arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) with a diffuse-type nidus that contains a neural element poses different challenges compared with a glomus-type nidus. The surgical elimination of such lesions involves the risk of spinal cord ischemia that results from coagulation of the feeding artery that, at the same time, supplies cord parenchyma. However, based on evaluation of the risks involved in performing embolization, together with the frequent occurrence of reperfusion, which necessitates frequent reembolization, the authors consider surgery to be a one-stage solution to a disease that otherwise has a very poor prognosis. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging revealed diffuse-type intramedullary AVMs in the cervical spinal cords of three patients who subsequently underwent surgery via the posterior approach. The AVM was supplied by the anterior spinal artery in one case and by both the anterior and posterior spinal arteries in the other two cases. In all three cases, a posterior median myelotomy was performed up to the vicinity of the anterior median fissure that divided the spinal cord together with the nidus, and the feeding artery was coagulated and severed at its origin from the anterior spinal artery. In the two cases in which the posterior spinal artery fed the AVM, the feeding artery was coagulated on the dorsal surface of the spinal cord. Neurological outcome improved in one patient and deteriorated slightly to mildly in the other two patients. Postoperative angiography demonstrated complete disappearance of the AVM in all cases. Because of the extremely poor prognosis of patients with spinal intramedullary AVMs, this surgical technique for the treatment of diffuse-type AVMs provides acceptable operative outcome. Surgical intervention should be considered when managing a patient with a diffuse-type intramedullary AVM in the cervical spinal cord.


1971 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 537-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Lende ◽  
Wolff M. Kirsch ◽  
Ralph Druckman

✓ Cortical removals which included precentral and postcentral facial representations resulted in relief of facial pain in two patients. Because of known failures following only postcentral (SmI) ablations, these operations were designed to eliminate also the cutaneous afferent projection to the precentral gyrus (MsI) and the second somatic sensory area (SmII). In one case burning pain developed after a stroke involving the brain stem and was not improved by total fifth nerve section; prompt relief followed corticectomy and lasted until death from heart disease 20 months later. In the other case persistent steady pain that developed after fifth rhizotomy for trigeminal neuralgia proved refractory to frontal lobotomy; relief after corticectomy was immediate and has lasted 14 months. Cortical localization was established by stimulation under local anesthesia. Each removal extended up to the border of the arm representation and down to the upper border of the insula. Such a resection necessarily included SmII, and in one case responses presumably from SmII were obtained before removal. The suggestions of Biemond (1956) and Poggio and Mountcastle (1960) that SmII might be concerned with pain sensibility may be pertinent in these cases.


2003 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sònia Abilleira ◽  
Joan Montaner ◽  
Carlos A. Molina ◽  
Jasone Monasterio ◽  
José Castillo ◽  
...  

Object. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are overexpressed in the presence of some neurological diseases in which blood—brain barrier disruption exists. The authors investigated the MMP-9 concentration in patients after acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and its relation to perihematomal edema (PHE). Methods. Concentrations of MMP-9 and related proteins were determined in plasma by performing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of samples drawn after hospital admission (< 24 hours after stroke) from 57 patients with ICH. The diagnosis of ICH was made on the basis of findings on computerized tomography (CT) scans. The volumes of ICH and PHE were measured on baseline and follow-up CT scans at the same time that the patient's neurological status was assessed using the Canadian Stroke Scale and the Glasgow Coma Scale. Increased expression of MMP-9 was found among patients with ICH. In cases of deep ICH, MMP-9 was significantly associated with PHE volume (r = 0.53; p = 0.01) and neurological worsening (237.4 compared with 111.3 ng/ml MMP-9; p = 0.04). A logistic regression model focusing on the study of absolute PHE volume showed ICH volume as an independent predictor (odds ratio [OR] 3.37; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–10.3; p = 0.03). A second analysis of relative PHE volume (absolute PHE volume/ICH volume) in patients with deep ICH demonstrated that the only factor related to it was MMP-9 concentration (OR 11.6; 95% CI 1.5–89.1; p = 0.018). Conclusions. Expression of MMP-9 is raised after acute spontaneous ICH. Among patients with deep ICH this increase is associated with PHE and the development of neurological worsening within the acute stage.


1995 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric R. Trumble ◽  
J. Paul Muizelaar ◽  
John S. Myseros ◽  
Sung C. Choi ◽  
Brian B. Warren

✓ The use of colloid agents to achieve hypervolemia in the prevention and treatment of postsubarachnoid hemorrhage (post-SAH) vasospasm is included in the standard of care at many institutions. Risk profiles are necessary to ensure appropriate use of these agents. In a series of 85 patients with recent aneurysmal SAH, 26 developed clinical symptoms of vasospasm. Fourteen of the 26 were treated with hetastarch for volume expansion while the other 12 received plasma protein fraction (PPF). Clinically significant bleeding pathologies were noted in six patients who received hetastarch as a continuous intravenous infusion. Hetastarch increased partial thromboplastin time from a mean of 23.9 seconds to a mean of 33.1 seconds (p < 0.001) in all patients who received infusions of this agent, while no effect was noted in the 12 patients who received PPF infusions. No other coagulation parameters were altered. This study shows an increase in coagulopathy with the use of hetastarch as compared with the use of PPF for the treatment of postaneurysmal vasospasm.


1990 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 763-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiyohiro Houkin ◽  
Ingrid L. Kwee ◽  
Tsutomu Nakada

✓ Serial proton (1H) and phosphorus-31 (31P) magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy of cerebral infarction was performed in rats to assess the sensitivity of these techniques for use in clinical cerebral infarction. In this experimental chronic infarction model, 31P spectroscopy tended to return to a “normal” pattern within 24 hours after induction of infarction in spite of pathologically proven completed infarction and, therefore, appeared not to be sensitive enough for clinical application. On the other hand, proton spectroscopy invariably showed persistent high lactate levels and was capable of distinguishing completed infarction from reperfused recovered brain. Persistent high lactate levels appear to be a good MR spectroscopic indicator of completed infarction.


2002 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 692-696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. Zager ◽  
Ellen G. Shaver ◽  
Robert W. Hurst ◽  
Eugene S. Flamm

✓ Aneurysms of the distal anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) are rare; fewer than 100 cases have been reported. The authors detail their experience with four cases and present endovascular as well as microsurgical management options. The medical records and neuroimaging studies obtained in four patients who were treated at a single institution were reviewed. Clinical presentations, neuroimaging and intraoperative findings, and clinical outcomes were analyzed. There were three men and one woman; their mean age was 43 years. Two patients presented with acute subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), and two presented with ataxia and vertigo (one with tinnitus, the other with hearing loss). Angiographic studies demonstrated aneurysms of the distal segment of the AICA. In one patient with von Hippel—Lindau syndrome and multiple cerebellar hemangioblastomas, a feeding artery aneurysm was found on a distal branch of the AICA. Three of the patients underwent successful surgical obliteration of their aneurysms, one by clipping, one by trapping, and one by resection along with the tumor. The fourth patient underwent coil embolization of the distal AICA and the aneurysm. All patients made an excellent neurological recovery. Patients with aneurysms in this location may present with typical features of an acute SAH or with symptoms referable to the cerebellopontine angle. Evaluation with computerized tomography, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, MR angiography, and digital subtraction angiography should be performed. For lesions distal to branches coursing to the brainstem, trapping and aneurysm resection are viable options that do not require bypass. Endovascular obliteration is also a reasonable option, although the possibility of retrograde thrombosis of the AICA is a concern.


1992 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waro Taki ◽  
Shogo Nishi ◽  
Kohsuke Yamashita ◽  
Akiyo Sadatoh ◽  
Ichiro Nakahara ◽  
...  

✓ Between April, 1989, and January, 1991, a total of 19 cases of giant aneurysm were treated by the endovascular approach. The patients included seven males and 12 females aged 15 to 72 years. Detachable balloons, occlusion coils, and ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer liquid were used as embolic materials. In seven cases, thrombosis of the aneurysmal sac and/or base was achieved while sparing the parent arterial flow; complete obliteration of the aneurysm was achieved in four of these. Of these four patients, the thrombotic material was a detachable balloon in two, a combination of a detachable balloon and coils in one, and occlusion liquid in one. In the other three cases, complete occlusion was not achieved; one aneurysm was occluded with a detachable balloon and two with coils. In 11 patients, the parent artery was occluded either by trapping or by proximal arterial occlusion, and all patients showed complete occlusion of the aneurysms. In one patient, a combined bypass procedure and parent artery occlusion was performed. Among the 19 cases in this series there were four transient ischemic attacks, one reversible ischemic neurological deficit, and one death due to aneurysmal rupture during the procedure. Two patients died in the follow-up period, one from pneumonia 2 months postoperatively and the other from acute cardiac failure 2 weeks following surgery. Both deaths were unrelated to the endovascular procedure. It is concluded that the endovascular treatment of giant aneurysms remains difficult because of the large and irregular shape of the aneurysmal base and thrombus in the aneurysmal sac. The proper selection and combination of the available endovascular techniques is therefore of critical importance.


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