1/18. recurrence of hypertrophic spinal pachymeningitis. Report of two cases and review of the literature.Hypertrophic spinal pachymeningitis (HSP) is a comparatively rare disease characterized by hypertrophic inflammation of the dura mater and clinical symptoms that progress from local pain to myelopathy. The authors report two cases of recurrent HSP and review the English- and Japanese-language literature focusing on the recurrence of HSP. In the first case, a man who presented at 67 years of age with lower-extremity numbness, gait disturbance, and bladder dysfunction experienced two recurrences of HSP during the 11 years of follow up after his initial laminectomy. Both recurrences were successfully treated with laminoplasty and duraplasty. Three years after his last surgical procedure, he was still able to walk with the aid of a walker. In the second case, a man who presented at 62 years of age with lower-extremity numbness and gait disturbance was initially treated successfully with steroid pulse therapy. Approximately 8 months after his initial presentation, his symptoms recurred. He underwent laminoplasty and duraplasty. At the 2.5-year follow-up examination, he had only mild neurological deficits and was still able to walk unaided. To explore possible causes of recurrence, the authors searched the English- and Japanese-language literature for cases of HSP. Of the 96 cases identified, 11 were recurrent. Data on the presence or absence of inflammatory signs were available for 84 patients. A chi-square analysis revealed a significantly increased rate of recurrence for patients who had at least one positive inflammatory sign before surgery (six [20%] recurrent cases of 30) compared with those who had no positive inflammatory signs before surgery (two [3.7%] recurrent cases of 54) (p < 0.05). The authors conclude that HSP recurrence occurs because of active inflammation of the dura before surgery and the influence of chronic inflammation, including residual arachnoiditis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/18. syringomyelia associated with post-meningitic spinal arachnoiditis due to candida tropicalis.A 63 year old man who suffered from syringomyelia related to post-meningitic spinal arachnoiditis caused by candida tropicalis is reported. The clinical syndrome of syringomyelia developed gradually and a definite diagnosis was delayed for more than 10 years. The patient has partially recovered after surgical treatment. This form of fungal infection and its delayed neurological complication in the form of syringomyelia has not been reported previously, to our knowledge.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 5keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/18. syringomyelia and arachnoiditis.Five patients with chronic arachnoiditis and syringomyelia were studied. Three patients had early life meningitis and developed symptoms of syringomyelia eight, 21, and 23 years after the acute infection. One patient had a spinal dural thoracic AVM and developed a thoracic syrinx 11 years after spinal subarachnoid haemorrhage and five years after surgery on the AVM. A fifth patient had tuberculous meningitis with transient spinal cord dysfunction followed by development of a lumbar syrinx seven years later. arachnoiditis can cause syrinx formation by obliterating the spinal vasculature causing ischaemia. Small cystic regions of myelomalacia coalesce to form cavities. In other patients, central cord ischaemia mimics syringomyelia but no cavitation is present. Scar formation with spinal block leads to altered dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow and contributes to the formation of spinal cord cystic cavities.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 5keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/18. ventriculoperitoneal shunt in cryptococcal meningitis with hydrocephalus.Fourteen patients with cryptococcal meningitis were reviewed. All patients had a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for hydrocephalus. Early recognitions and prompt relief of hydrocephalus were useful for eight patients who showed rapid deterioration of consciousness or signs of cerebral herniation. There was no surgical response in four patients who had had weeks of confusion or mental change. It seems, therefore, that the duration of disturbance of consciousness or change of mentality before shunting is critical in determination of the outcome of the treatment. Ventricular shunting was effective in relieving papilledema in five patients. However, the surgery did not prevent the development of papilledema to optic atrophy and subsequent blindness in two patients. Hence, in addition to hydrocephalus with increased intracranial pressure, conditions such as direct invasion of the optic pathways by cryptococcus neoformans or optochiasmatic arachnoiditis may be responsible for the visual failure. Ventricular shunting was also helpful in restoring paraparesis in one patient. Of the cerebrospinal fluid determinations, low protein concentration was a favorable indicator for surgery. Of the seven patients who received the surgical procedure before the start of antifungal therapy, four showed a significant improvement despite active infection of the central nervous system. None of the seven patients deteriorated because of the surgical operation. Thus, active stage of cryptococcal meningitis does not contraindicate the necessity of shunting, and premedication with antifungal drugs is unnecessary. Also, no shunt-related morbidity and mortality was seen in this study.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/18. Spinal arachnoiditis due to aspergillus meningitis in a previously healthy patient.A 30-year-old, previously healthy, non-addicted man presented with a chronic spinal meningitis complicated by arachnoiditis and spinal cord compression. biopsy showed a chronic granulomatous leptomeningitis, in which some cells contained branching septate organisms that were immunostained with an antiserum to aspergillus fumigatus. precipitins to A. fumigatus were detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but not in blood, and aspergillus infection was apparently restricted to the leptomeninges. Clinically successful treatment led to the disappearance of CSF precipitins and oligoclonal bands.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 5keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/18. Chronic intracranial hypertension secondary to neurobrucellosis.Chronic intracranial hypertension in the presence of hydrocephalus and/or arachnoiditis is a rare presentation of neurobrucellosis. The present case is exceptional because neither hydrocephalus nor arachnoiditis were present. brucellosis was diagnosed by serological tests. The patient developed asthenia, anorexia, weight loss, violent headaches, explosive vomiting, bilateral papilloedema, diplopia with paralysis of the abducens nerves, left supranuclear facial paralysis and left hemiparesis. A skull radiograph showed destruction of the sella turcica. Rapid recovery was attained with the use of antibiotics. The pathogenesis of this intracranial hypertension syndrome with destruction of sella turcica is discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 2keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/18. Amoebic meningitis also occurs in NSW.The clinical, pathological and laboratory findings of a 3-year-old boy with proven primary amoebic meningo-encephalitis are described. The EEG showed changes of acute cortical necrosis lateralised to one temporal lobe and was similar to that described with herpes simplex encephalitis. CT scan findings indicated acute cortical inflammation and basal arachnoiditis. The disease should be suspected in the context of acute pyogenic meningitis when no organisms are isolated. Treatment with amphotericin-B, miconazole and rifampicin has been effective in previously reported patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/18. amphotericin b-induced myelopathy.Two patients with coccidioidal meningitis experienced transient neurologic deficits shortly after receiving intrathecal injections of amphotericin b. Continuation of treatment eventually led to a severe flaccid paraparesis with a thoracic sensory level in one patient, and a partial Brown-Sequard's syndrome in the other. myelography was normal in both, with no evidence of arachnoiditis. autopsy findings in the first patient showed a focal area of necrosis in the left half of the spinal cord consistent with the patient's clinical findings during life. The distribution of the lesion corresponded to the area supplied by a central sulcal artery. amphotericin b may exert a direct toxic effect on the spinal cord or its vascular supply when given intrathecally.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/18. Chronic mycotic meningitis with spinal involvement (arachnoiditis): a report of five cases.Five patients developed mycotic spinal arachnoiditis-meningitis causing signs and symptoms of spinal cord neoplasm. Four had cryptococcal infection, the fifth had aspergillosis. In three patients, diagnosis was made at surgery; all three developed acute fungal meningitis postoperatively and two died. The diagnosis was made nonsurgically in two patients and was followed by medical cure. These five and twelve other reported patients with mycotic spinal arachnoiditis shared features that suggested the diagnosis. In contrast to most patients with spinal tumors, those reported here tended to be young (mean age, 32 years), to lack evidence for a primary tumor, and to have a fluctuating history of spinal symptoms for several months. Frequent associated findings were recent pregnancy; the abuse of alcohol, narcotics, or both; and the presence of headache and fever. Plain roentgenograms of the spine were normal. No single finding was diagnostic, but the combination of several would be rare with spinal tumor.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/18. Respiratory arrest and cervical spinal cord infarction following lumbar puncture in meningitis.A 6-year-old child with meningitis had a respiratory arrest 20 minutes after a lumbar puncture. Thereafter she required maintenance on a ventilator, had a flaccid quadriplegia, and died 12 days later. Necropsy showed infarction of the central portion of the cord at the level of the decussation of the pyramids. The suggested mechanism of damage is compression of the arterial supply to the cord at the level of the foramen magnum by herniated cerebellar tonsils; concomitant hypotension may have contributed to production of the damage. Four similar cases, who survived with residual deficit, have also been reported. Other separate mechanisms by which the cord can be damaged in meningitis are vasculitis, thrombosis and arachnoiditis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = arachnoiditis (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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