221/612. Idiopathic spinal cord herniation causing progressive brown-sequard syndrome. We report a 59-year-old woman with a 2.5 year history of progressive loss of temperature sensation and dysesthesia in the right and weakness in the contralateral lower limb. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography myelography of the spinal cord demonstrated transdural herniation and deformation of the spinal cord in the upper thoracic spine. The herniated part of the spinal cord was untethered and replaced, and the anterior dural defect was closed. At a clinical follow-up 3 months later, the motor and sensory functions were almost restored. MRI at this time showed disentanglement of spinal cord adherence. ( info) |
222/612. Seeing the invisible: painless aortic dissection in the emergency setting. Acute dissection of the aorta can be one of the most dramatic cardiovascular emergencies. Classically, aortic dissection presents as sudden, severe chest, back, or abdominal pain that is characterised as ripping or tearing in nature. However, a timely diagnosis can be elusive in the event of an atypical presentation. In this report, the authors present two patients with painless aortic dissection who were misdiagnosed during their initial evaluation in the emergency department. ( info) |
223/612. Cord compression secondary to intradural ossification. The authors describe two patients presenting with a previous history of spinal trauma and a several-year history of sensory changes secondary to spinal cord compression. Both patients underwent laminectomy and spinal decompression operations. In both cases intradural bone causing neural compression was removed at operation. Potential mechanisms to explain intradural ossification and the relevant literature are reviewed. ( info) |
224/612. Polyneuropathy in acute megakaryoblastic leukemia. Peripheral neuropathy is a rare complication in leukemia. The authors report a patient with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) and progressive symmetric polyneuropathy. Intense infiltration of leukemic cells in a peripheral nerve was observed at autopsy. This is the first report of AMKL with peripheral nerve involvement to the knowledge of the authors. ( info) |
225/612. piperacillin/tazobactam-induced paresthesiae. OBJECTIVE: To describe a case of a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction to piperacillin/tazobactam in which painful paresthesiae were a predominant feature. CASE SUMMARY: A 27-year-old man with a history of intravenous drug abuse was admitted for treatment of a pulmonary parenchymal abscess in the setting of lower-limb deep-venous thrombosis and methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. He was treated with intravenous piperacillin/tazobactam 4.5 g 3 times daily; however, after 2 weeks of therapy, he developed symptoms (eg, fever, chills) and laboratory abnormalities (eg, white blood cell count 2.1 x 10(3)/mm3, erythrocyte sedimentation rate 63 mm/h) suggestive of a DTH reaction. This was accompanied by infusion-related painful paresthesiae. The symptoms and laboratory abnormalities resolved within 48 hours of treatment being switched to flucloxacillin. DISCUSSION: Due to the close temporal association and the absence of any other obvious explanation, we believe these paresthesiae represent an additional feature of the DTH reaction to piperacillin/tazobactam in this patient. Use of the Naranjo probability scale indicated a probable relationship between the paresthesiae and administration of piperacillin/tazobactam. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, as of March 24, 2006, this is the first case in which a DTH reaction to piperacillin/tazobactam manifesting as fever, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia has been associated with paresthesiae. ( info) |
226/612. Histologic patterns of polyethylene glycol-liposomal doxorubicin-related cutaneous eruptions. polyethylene glycol (PEG)-liposomal doxorubicin (Stealth R, Doxil) is a formulation of doxorubicin, which is encapsulated in liposomes formulated with PEG. It is favored in the palliative setting over doxorubicin because of its generally favorable side effect profile. Adverse reactions are predominantly skin eruptions. We report 3 cases of women with breast cancer undergoing treatment with liposomal doxorubicin who developed palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia and diffuse morbilliform eruptions. Biopsies in the 2 cases demonstrated vacuolar interface dermatitis with epidermal dysmaturation and the third case suggested a drug eruption. Additionally, we report a woman with metastatic breast cancer who developed a similar morbilliform eruption soon after completing a regimen of liposomal doxorubicin. The biopsy revealed an atypical squamous proliferation showing epidermal dysmaturation with focal evidence of interface damage. Both clinician and pathologist alike should be cognizant of this cutaneous eruption, as well as the histologic patterns. ( info) |
227/612. Mental paresthesia and orthodontic treatment. This article reports a case of mental paresthesia during orthodontic treatment. It also discusses which cases may be at risk for developing mental paresthesia and its prevention and management. ( info) |
228/612. thallium poisoning presenting as paresthesias, paresis, psychosis and pain in abdomen. Due to involvement of multiple systems, thallium poisoning is notorious for complexity and seriousness as symptoms of toxicity are non-specific and diverse. alopecia and painful neuropathy are its cardinal features, others being gastrointestinal disturbances, encephalopathy, tachycardia, ataxia, hepatorenal and cardiac damage etc. We report a case of thallium poisoning who presented initially with gastrointestinal symptoms and later developed neurological features (peripheral neuropathy and delirium). Various diagnoses were entertained in this case and thallium poisoning was suspected only after he developed alopecia and neuropsychosis. He made a significant recovery by conservative management in spite of delay in diagnosis. We conclude that a high level of suspicion should be kept for thallium poisoning, especially in patients with painful, peripheral neuropathy and gastrointestinal symptoms which appear earlier than alopecia, since prognosis is more rewarding with early diagnosis, leading to complete recovery. ( info) |
229/612. Cisplatinum neuropathy with Lhermitte's sign. A case of cisplatinum induced neuropathy is reported because of its unusual presentation. Withdrawal of the drug resulted in improvement. ( info) |
230/612. Unusual presentation of intradural endodermal cysts in young children under 2 years of age. Report of two cases. INTRODUCTION: Spinal endodermal cysts are congenital maldevelopmental lesions usually presenting in early adulthood. Whereas the diagnosis is rare in newborns and it is usually led by cardiopulmonary distress or other associated malformations, no characteristic clinical findings associated with these entities have been described in older patients where spinal endodermal cysts usually behave as intraspinal space occupying lesions. DISCUSSION: The authors report on two children under 2 years of age affected by cervical endodermal cysts that presented with a history of acute motor deficit following a laryngitis. The hypothesis about the pathogenesis is that the upper respiratory tract infection might have stimulated the secretion of the cyst lining, inducing growth of the cyst and the sudden appearance of the motor deficit. Because of the apparent lack of relation between the benign laryngitis and the motor deficit, the occurrence of such an association might have been underestimated in some of the previously reported cases. ( info) |