1/73. Spatz-Lindenberg disease: a rare cause of vascular dementia.BACKGROUND: Isolated cerebral thromboangiitis obliterans (Spatz-Lindenberg disease) is not well recognized as a cause of vascular dementia. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 58-year-old woman presented with dementia and pyramidal signs. neuroimaging showed multiple areas of white matter change. brain biopsy showed intimal thickening of the walls of leptomeningeal and intraparenchymal arteries, almost to complete occlusion, with an intact internal elastic lamina and media and without inflammation or infiltration. The cortex showed only moderate gliosis. CONCLUSIONS: Spatz-Lindenberg disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of vascular dementia. Additional studies of its pathogenesis are required to determine appropriate treatment.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/73. Transient ischemic attack in heavy cannabis smokers--how 'safe' is it?Drugs are lately considered high-risk factors for cerebrovascular disease. Three male patients (mean age 24.6 years) who were heavy cannabis smokers presented with transient ischemic attacks (TIA) shortly after cannabis abuse. The complete examination of all 3 consisted of: EEG, brain CT scan, brain MRI, cerebral vessel angiography (digital subtraction and magnetic resonance angiography); also a full cerebrospinal fluid, urine and blood analysis (immunological, biochemical and hormonal tests were included). urine was further examined for drug metabolites. An extensive cardiological investigation was carried out. Small vessel leukoencephalopathy was revealed by the brain CT and MRI. EEG recordings of the first patient showed paroxysmal sharp waves with left hemispheric dominance. The other 2 patients had diffuse delta and theta activity in their EEG tracings. The urine analysis was positive for cannabis metabolites. There were no other abnormal findings in the rest of the meticulous and thorough study of all 3 patients, which leads to the conclusion that cannabis was the only risk factor responsible for the observed TIA, contradictory to other studies, which support that cannabis is a 'safe' drug. More research is required in order for this issue to be completely elucidated.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.0135302317153keywords = cerebral, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/73. Visual electrophysiological responses in subjects with cerebral autosomal arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (cadasil).OBJECTIVES: To evaluate visual electrophysiological responses in subjects with cerebral autosomal arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (cadasil). methods: Three subjects (one male and two females, mean age 55.3 /-2.9 years) belonging to an Italian family already diagnosed with cadasil through clinicopathological and genetic studies and 14 control subjects (6 males and 8 females, mean age 52.7 /-3.6 years) were enrolled in the study. Flash electroretinogram (ERG), oscillatory potentials (OPs) and simultaneous recordings of pattern electroretinogram (PERG) and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were assessed in all 3 subjects with cadasil and age-matched controls. RESULTS: Subjects with cadasil showed: reduced ERG, OP and PERG (N35-P50, P50-N95) amplitudes with respect to our normal limits; delayed PERG (N35, P50) and VEP (P100) implicit times when compared with our normal limits; and VEP (N75-P100) amplitudes and retinocortical times within our normal limits. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with cadasil present a dysfunction in the outer, middle and innermost retinal layers when the index of neural conduction in the postretinal visual pathways is normal. The delay in visual cortical responses observed in subjects with cadasil may be ascribable to retinal impairment with a possible functional sparing of the postretinal visual structures.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 5keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/73. depression in late life, cognitive decline and white matter pathology in two clinico-pathologically investigated cases.case reports: We report two cases of late life depression who became progressively more resistant to treatment, developed cognitive impairment, and began to exhibit neurological abnormalities and evidence of vascular disease. A discussion of the clinical features of the cases is accompanied by reports of neuropathology and neuroimaging findings. Extensive white matter lesions were present on computed tomography in both patients, and basal ganglia infarcts were seen in one. Neuropathology revealed evidence of cerebral atrophy, demyelination and white matter lesions in addition to cerebrovascular and generalised vascular disease. Neither patient exhibited Alzheimer pathology outwith the norm for their age. We believe this to be the first report of neuropathological findings in depression with white matter changes. literature review: The pathological basis of white matter lesions and their relationship to depression, its age of onset and clinical features is addressed in relation to the cases described. Pathological investigation of white matter lesions has not previously been carried out in depression and hypotheses regarding their nature in this illness are based on extrapolation from research in a variety of other disorders. The association of depression with vascular risk factors is considered, as is the relationship between depression and cognitive deficits. There is a need for further investigation in this area.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/73. Severe metabolic abnormalities in the white matter of patients with vacuolating megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts. A proton MR spectroscopic imaging study.Vacuolating megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy (VML) with subcortical cysts is a neurodegenerative disorder clinically characterized by megalencephaly with onset in the first year of life, progressive ataxia, spasticity and relatively spared cognitive function. Conventional MRI findings consist of diffusely abnormal cerebral white matter with subcortical cysts. Recent single-voxel proton MR spectroscopy studies have shown mild metabolic abnormalities in the white matter. We report here a combined proton MR imaging and MR spectroscopic imaging (1H-MRSI) study on 2 new, unrelated patients with this rare disorder. 1H-MRSI examinations, which can provide simultaneously metabolic information from many different brain regions, showed inhomogeneous decreases in all normally detected metabolites with significant widespread decreases in the ratio of N-acetylaspartate to creatine phosphocreatine and concomitant small increases in lactate in the white matter of both hemispheres. Metabolic abnormalities were milder in the frontal white matter and more severe in the posterior white matter. The 1H-MRSI pattern of the gray matter was normal in both patients. In one patient, a subsequent 1H-MRSI examination (performed 3 years after the first) confirmed the presence of widespread decreases in the ratio of N-acetylaspartate to creatine phosphocreatine in the white matter. We conclude that severe metabolic abnormalities can be found in the white matter of VML patients. This suggests that, despite the apparently mild clinical course, a severe neurodegenerative process may occur in the white matter of these patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.0045100772384keywords = cerebral, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/73. cadasil: neuropsychological findings in three generations of an affected family.Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (cadasil) is a hereditary brain disease with a variety of neurologic and psychiatric manifestations. We studied 3 members of a family who each had leukoencephalopathy on neuroimaging studies and a characteristic mutation for cadasil in the notch 3 region of chromosome 19q12. In all 3 cases, neurobehavioral impairment dominated the clinical picture, and a pattern of psychiatric dysfunction heralding cognitive decline emerged. Neuropsychological evaluation revealed diverse deficits, but a profile of frontal lobe dysfunction, declarative memory impairment suggestive of a retrieval deficit, and relatively preserved language was evident. These cases provide a cross-sectional study of the evolution of cadasil, and suggest that, as in other diseases characterized by white matter dementia, psychiatric dysfunction may occur initially, followed by pervasive cognitive dysfunction later in the course of the disease. cadasil should be considered in young adults with unexplained leukoencephalopathy on neuroimaging studies, and in those with neurobehavioral dysfunction and a suggestive family history.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0045100772384331keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/73. siblings with development delay, mild spasticity and subcortical cysts: a further leukoencephalopathy?We present a family with mild neurological symptoms and intra-cerebral subcortical cysts on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Common clinical features are microcephaly, learning difficulties, spasticity, dyspraxia and restricted movements of the neck and shoulder. The family has features in common with vacuolating leukoencephalopathy of van de Knaap and Olivier and may represent a new variant.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/73. 11: disorders of memory and intellect.The clinical approach to the patient with a suspected disorder of memory and intellect is to establish whether it is dementia, which parts of the brain are affected, what is the cause, what is the prognosis, and what can be done about it. The diagnosis of dementia usually requires the involvement of memory and at least one other cognitive system. delirium and depression are important differential diagnoses. patients with dementia should usually have some simple investigations after a careful history-taking and examination to identify "reversible" causes. The commonest cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, in which short-term memory disturbance is usually prominent. Other causes of dementia include cerebrovascular disease, Lewy-body disease and Pick's disease. There is now hope for patients with Alzheimer's disease (which can be treated with some success with cholinesterase inhibitors) and patients with vascular dementia, in whom aggressive control of causal risk factors may retard progression.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0045100772384331keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/73. Subcortical dementia associated with striking enlargement of the Virchow-Robin spaces and transneural degeneration of the left mammillo-thalamic tract.We report a case of subcortical dementia in a 68-year-old woman. MR examination of the patient's brain revealed two types of alterations as a possible cause of the dementia, both anomalous in respect of their entity and incidence: the first was a striking enlargement of the Virchow-Robin spaces, and the second an anterograde transneural degeneration of the left mammillo-thalamic tract and mammillary body secondary to a lacunar infarction of the ipsilateral anterior thalamus.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0045100772384331keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/73. Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy occurring during resection of a posterior fossa tumor: case report and review of the literature.OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Our goal was to present a clinically and radiographically documented case of reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy (RPL) that occurred during resection of a posterior fossa tumor. Although RPL has been previously described in multiple nonsurgical settings, we hope that this case description makes RPL more clinically and radiographically recognizable to neurosurgeons. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: RPL is the clinical syndrome of headaches, altered mental status, seizures, and visual loss, with radiographic findings of reversible parieto-occipital changes on cerebral computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging scans. It has been previously reported in the settings of malignant hypertension, renal disease, eclampsia, and immunosuppression. To our knowledge, the patient presented represents the first clinically and radiographically documented case of RPL occurring during resection of a posterior fossa tumor. The patient intraoperatively exhibited wide fluctuations in blood pressure and awoke with clinical and radiographic findings consistent with RPL. INTERVENTION: Aggressive intraoperative and postoperative management of the patient's blood pressure, supportive intensive care, rehabilitation, and close radiographic follow-up were performed. CONCLUSION: RPL can occur as a result of intraoperative variations in blood pressure, even among young, previously healthy individuals. With the aforementioned interventions, the patient experienced significant clinical and radiographic recovery.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = cerebral (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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