1/189. Disorders in cerebellar ocular motor control. II. Macrosaccadic oscillation. An oculographic, control system and clinico-anatomical analysis.A distinctive cerebellar ocular motor disorder, macrosaccadic oscillation, evolved simultaneously with an acute cerebellar syndrome in 4 patients, 2 with haemorrhagic metastatic melanoma deep in the vermis, a third with a presumed cerebellar haematoma and a fourth with focal demyelinating disease. Ocular oscillations were conjugate, horizontal, symmetrical, occurred in bursts of several seconds duration, had amplitudes of 30 degrees to 50 degrees, and were evoked whenever the patient attempted to shift visual fixation or pursue a moving target. Photo-electric recordings in one patient with tumour defined features of this disorder of saccadic eye movement: (i) oscillation was composed of saccades, (ii) frequency was 2 Hz, (iii) bursts occurred with amplitude first increasing and then decreasing, (iv) intervals between beginnings of saccades averaged 260 ms and (v) eye position did not exhibit systematic drift during the intersaccadic period. These features documented the inreased gain and instability of the visually guided saccadic system. By using increased feed-forward gain in a sampled-data control model we simulated the pattern of macrosaccadic oscillation. We belive that the acute loss of the calibrator function of the cerebellum accounts for the gain abnormality underlying macrosaccadic oscillation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/189. A multiple sclerosis-like illness in a man harboring the mtDNA 14484 mutation.In most cases of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) the only clinical manifestation is visual loss. A multiple sclerosis-like illness has been infrequently reported in association with LHON. Most patients are women harboring the mtDNA 11778 mutation. We present a young man with clinical and paraclinical evidence of a demyelinating process with profound bilateral visual loss who harbored the mtDNA 14484 mutation associated with LHON.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/189. Acquired convergence-evoked pendular nystagmus in multiple sclerosis.Nystagmus seen only with convergence is unusual. We describe four cases of acquired convergence-evoked pendular nystagmus in patients with multiple sclerosis. The nystagmus was horizontal and asymmetric in all patients. eye movement recordings in one subject showed a conjugate rather than a convergent-divergent relationship of the phase of movement between the two eyes. All patients had evidence of optic neuropathy and cerebellar dysfunction. Occlusion of either eye during fixation of near targets led to divergent drift of the covered eye and a decrease in nystagmus. Intravenous scopolamine reduced nystagmus in one patient. Base-in prisms alleviated symptoms of oscillopsia at near and improving reading visual acuity. Convergence-evoked pendular nystagmus may be more common than currently appreciated, particularly among patients with multiple sclerosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/189. Dissociation of 'on-line' and 'off-line' visuomotor control of the arm by focal lesions in the cerebellum and brainstem.Visuomotor control of the arm was assessed in a single case study of a subject with focal lesions in the cerebellum and brainstem. A dissociation between 'on-line' and 'off-line' visuomotor control was revealed: impairments in 'on-line' visuomotor control included inaccuracy of tracking velocity, increase in spatial pointing variability and a delay in simple reaction time; whereas the patient was able to adapt to a gain change in 'off-line' visual feedback during a pointing task, and his adaptation was less affected than that of control subjects by trial-to-trial random fluctuations in 'off-line' visual feedback. We conclude that focal damage in the cerebellar peduncles may be principally responsible for this dissociation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/189. Impairment of depth perception in multiple sclerosis is improved by treatment with AC pulsed electromagnetic fields.multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with postural instability and an increased risk of falling which is facilitated by a variety of factors including diminished visual acuity, diplopia, ataxia, apraxia of gait, and peripheral neuropathy. Deficient binocular depth perception may also contribute to a higher incidence of postural instability and falling in these patients who, for example, find it an extremely difficult task to walk on uneven ground, over curbs, or up and down steps. I report a 51 year old woman with secondary progressive MS who experienced difficulties with binocular depth perception resulting in frequent falls and injuries. Deficient depth perception was demonstrated also on spontaneous drawing of a cube. Following a series of transcranial treatments with AC pulsed electromagnetic fields (EMFs) of 7,5 picotesla flux density, the patient experienced a major improvement in depth perception which was evident particularly on ascending and descending stairs. These clinical changes were associated with an improvement in spatial organization and depth perception on drawing a cube. These findings suggest that in MS impairment of depth perception, which is encoded in the primary visual cortex (area 17) and visual association cortex (areas 18 and 19), may be improved by administration of AC pulsed EMFs of picotesla flux density. The primary visual cortex is densely innervated by serotonergic neurons which modulate visual information processing. Cerebral serotonin concentrations are diminished in MS patients and at least some aspects of deficient depth perception in MS may be related to dysfunction of serotonergic transmission in the primary visual cortex. It is suggested that transcranial AC pulsed applications of EMFs improve depth perception partly by augmenting serotonergic transmission in the visual cortex.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3.5keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/189. Effect of open label pulse cyclophosphamide therapy on MRI measures of disease activity in five patients with refractory relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the response to cyclophosphamide (CTX) of five patients who failed an average three treatments with multiple other therapeutic agents, using serial monthly MRI measures. methods: Five patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) and documented MRI disease activity were started on monthly pulse intravenous CTX at a dose of 1 g/m2. CTX was administered without an induction phase according to the protocol similar to the treatment of lupus nephritis. The five patients were followed with monthly MRI and clinical evaluation for a mean of 28 months. RESULTS: All the patients showed a rapid reduction in the contrast-enhancing lesion frequency and in three patients there was a decrease in the T2 lesion load within the first 5 months after starting CTX treatment. The administration of CTX during overnight hospitalization was safe and well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that aggressive immunosuppressive therapy may be useful in some rapidly deteriorating refractory patients and further controlled study should be considered in order to full evaluate this type of treatment as a potential therapy in MS.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.13330343030458keywords = contrast (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/189. multiple sclerosis with extensive lesions left hemiplegia, mental dysfunction and retrobulbar neuritis.multiple sclerosis (MS) is usually diagnosed on the basis of the typical clinical course, with remission and exacerbation in multiple parts of the central nervous system (CNS). Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has made a large contribution to the diagnosis of patients with MS. But it is difficult to make a definite diagnosis due to clinical variability of the disease and variable MRI findings. We report the case of a 26-year-old woman who developed progressive left hemiplegia, mental dysfunction, and had extensive bilateral cerebral white matter lesions diagnosed by brain MRI. Complete recovery from the left hemiplegia followed the use of corticosteroid, and her brain MRI findings also improved after medication. Early in the clinical course it was difficult to differentiate between multiple sclerosis and granulomatous angiitis of the CNS. After recovery from the first episode of left hemiplegia and mental dysfunction, she developed acute visual disturbance five months after her first admission. Readmission followed and her retrobulbar neuritis was successfully treated by methylpredonisolone pulse therapy. In summary, she experienced two episodes of neurological deficit, had left hemiplegia and mental dysfunction associated with multiple lesions in bilateral cerebral white matter in brain MRI, and the left retrobulbar neuritis with delay of P100 by visual evoked potential study. Due to these two episodes we concluded that she had multiple sclerosis. Though the initial diagnosis was difficult, prompt treatment and close follow-up was important, since multiple sclerosis and granulomatous angiitis of the CNS can both recur.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/189. transcranial magnetic stimulation and other evoked potentials in pediatric multiple sclerosis.In children, multiple sclerosis is rare and has some clinical and paraclinical differences compared with adults. The assessment of corticospinal motor tracts is expected to be relevant because of their frequent early involvement in this disease. Reported are the results of transcranial magnetic stimulation in two children who presented at 12 and 9 years of age with clinically probable and definite multiple sclerosis, respectively. In Patient 1 the excitatory cortical threshold for the upper limbs was abnormally raised. In Patient 2 the latency of the motor-evoked potentials was considerably increased for the right tibialis anterior muscle, with a slowing of the central conduction time. Although these abnormalities may be consistent with central conduction impairment, they may alternatively suggest early axonal damage because irreversible axonal lesions occurring at the onset of the disease have recently been reported. Testing of central motor tracts, in addition to visual, auditory, and somatosensory pathways, therefore appears appropriate in the multimodal assessment of pediatric patients with suspected multiple sclerosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.5keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/189. Postpartum optic neuritis: etiologic and pathophysiologic considerations.The clinical course of four patients with visual loss in the postpartum period due to acute optic neuritis is described. Factors that disclosed the underlying etiology and expression of disease are discussed. The clinical records of four women examined and managed for visual loss after uncomplicated pregnancies and term deliveries were reviewed. Neurodiagnostic examination, treatment modalities, and outcomes were assessed. These four women with varied and confounding medical histories, all with optic neuropathy, eventually were demonstrated to harbor demyelinating disease. Although visual loss in the postpartum period evokes differential diagnostic considerations, the authors' experience suggests that puerperal immune-mediated changes are responsible for activation of optic neuritis associated with relapsing multiple sclerosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1.5keywords = visual (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/189. Acute aphasia in multiple sclerosis.Acute aphasia is rare in multiple sclerosis. We describe 3 patients with multiple sclerosis who had acute exacerbations presenting as aphasias. One patient had a mixed transcortical aphasia, 1 had a transcortical motor aphasia, and 1 had a Broca aphasia. magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain with contrast enhancement revealed new white matter lesions in the left hemisphere in all 3 patients. Two of the 3 patients had a good response to treatment with methylprednisolone sodium succinate. Arch Neurol. 2000;57:1207-1209- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.13330343030458keywords = contrast (Clic here for more details about this article) |
| | Next -> |