1/2. Painful vascular compression syndrome of the sciatic nerve caused by gluteal varicosities.The authors report three patients with chronic sciatic pain without focal neurologic deficit. Sitting or lying on the affected side provoked pain, and standing and walking relieved it. MRI revealed varicotic gluteal vessels compressing the sciatic nerve. decompression of the nerve resulted in complete and permanent pain relief. Sciatic or buttock pain in patients with varicosities and pain provocation in the sitting or lying position suggests this neurovascular compression syndrome.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/2. Antiphospholipid antibodies and ischemic neuropathy following cardiac surgery.sciatic nerve palsy is an uncommon complication of cardiac surgery and is thought to be induced by a combination of reduced femoral artery blood flow, small vessel vascular disease or prolonged hypoxia. We here describe a new case which is the first described with transient elevation of antiphospholipid antibodies. Although transient elevation of lupus coagulation inhibitor is known to occur frequently in patients treated in an intensive care unit, there are very few data about the possible role of antiphospholipid antibodies in the generation of ischemic neuropathies. We can not prove that the ischemic neuropathy in our case has been favored by the presence of lupus coagulation inhibitor and antiphospholipid antibodies as the occurrence of the symptoms seemed to precede the transient elevation of lupus coagulation inhibitor. This case suggests that antiphospholipid antibodies and lupus coagulation inhibitor should be included in the work up of patients who present nerve damage after cardiac surgery but further studies are needed to ascertain this association.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = vessel (Clic here for more details about this article) |