1/1888. Combined peripheral facial and abducens nerve palsy caused by caudal tegmental pontine infarction. Isolated peripheral facial and abducens nerve palsy could theoretically be caused by a caudal pontine infarction, but as far as we know, there has been no published case history which has demonstrated this point. We describe the cases of two hypertensive patients who showed combined peripheral facial and abducens nerve palsy without other neurologic symptoms or signs. Other than hypertension, there was no identifiable etiology. magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated compatible isolated ipsilateral ischemic infarction of the caudal tegmental pons. The present cases indicate that a well-placed small pontine infarction can cause isolated peripheral facial and abducens nerve palsy. ( info) |
2/1888. Neuropathy in two cobalamin-deficient breast-fed infants of vegetarian mothers. We describe the electrophysiological findings in 2 infants with deficient cobalamin intake. After normal development, psychomotor regression appeared after the 6th month, leading to severe hypotonia and apathy before the 12th month. Electrodiagnostic evaluation showed sensory neuropathy in both cases, associated with motor neuropathy in 1 case. Thus, in an acquired floppy infant syndrome, electrophysiological signs of peripheral neuropathy contributed to the diagnosis of a curable metabolic disorder. ( info) |
3/1888. Acute sensorimotor polyneuropathy with tonic pupils and an abduction deficit: an unusual presentation of polyarteritis nodosa. A tonic pupil may occur in isolation or as part of a systemic disorder. We report a patient who developed tonic pupils and an abduction deficit in the setting of polyarteritis nodosa. The combination of a tonic pupil and an abduction deficit should suggest the possibility of a vasculopathic disorder, because the ciliary ganglion and lateral rectus muscle are both supplied by the lateral muscular artery. Widespread small artery and arteriolar narrowing and occlusion are the hallmarks of polyarteritis nodosa. Unusual ischemic syndromes may occur, such as this rare combination of neuro-ophthalmic signs, by involvement of both the nutrient artery and its collaterals. We are unaware of other reports of neuropathic tonic pupils in association with polyarteritis nodosa. ( info) |
4/1888. Statins and peripheral neuropathy. Within the past 3 years seven cases of reversible peripheral neuropathy apparently caused by statins have been reported. Here we report seven additional cases associated with long-term statin therapy, in which other causes of neuropathy were thoroughly excluded. The neuropathy was in all cases axonal and with affection of both thick and thin nerve fibers. The symptoms of neuropathy persisted during an observation period lasting from 10 weeks to 1 year in four cases after statin treatment had been withdrawn. We suggest that long-term statin treatment may be associated with chronic peripheral neuropathy. ( info) |
5/1888. Vasculitis confined to the peripheral nerve and skin: a variant of non-systemic vasculitic neuropathy. We describe a patient presenting with vasculitic neuropathy associated with cutaneous vasculitis in the absence of other clinical or laboratory evidence of the underlying systemic vasculitis, and showing a favourable prognosis. Although the early proposed criteria for the diagnosis of non-systemic vasculitic neuropathy (NSVN) exclude the involvement of extraneural tissues, the condition observed in our patient might represent a variant of NSVN, with the vasculitis confined to the small vessels in both the peripheral nerve and the skin. ( info) |
| The syndrome of inflammatory subacute lumbosacral polyradiculoneuropathy (SLP) has been reported in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients in association with cytomegalovirus infection and is only partially amenable to anti-viral therapy. We report three cases of relatively benign inflammatory painful SLP in two non-AIDS, immunosuppressed patients and one who hiv-seroconversed at the time of clinical presentation. SLP developed: (1) in association with hiv seroconversion; (2) during ECHO virus infection in a patient with common variable immune deficiency; and (3) after a severe systemic infection that induced transient immunosuppression due to Epstein-Barr virus reactivation. This report expands the spectrum of viruses associated with acute and subacute lumbosacral polyradiculoneuropathy and may shed light on its possible pathogenesis. ( info) |
7/1888. Unsuccessful surgical treatment of hip dislocation in congenital sensory neuropathy with anhidrosis. A case report. A six-year-old girl with congenital sensory neuropathy with anhidrosis (CSNA) presented with bilateral hip dysplasia and subluxation on the right side. Conservative treatment of the hips by closed reduction and a plaster cast was unsuccessful. When aged seven years the patient had an intertrochanteric varus rotation osteotomy on the right side, but subluxation was again evident after five months. A Salter-type pelvic osteotomy was carried out followed by immobilisation, but one year later subluxation was present in the right hip and dislocation in the left. At the age of nine years, the right femoral head resembled a Charcot joint, although walking ability was preserved. In patients with CSNA, surgery may not always be advisable. ( info) |
8/1888. peroneal nerve palsy caused by intraneural ganglion. A case of peroneal nerve palsy caused by an intraneural ganglion is presented. The cystic mass was located posterolateral to the lateral femoral condyle and extended along the common peroneal nerve distal to the origin of the peroneus longus muscle. The nerve was compressed in the narrow fibro-osseous tunnel against the fibula neck and the tight origin of the peroneus longus muscle. The nerve was decompressed by complete tumor excision and transection of the origin of the peroneus longus muscle. Full recovery of nerve function was obtained in 6 months. ( info) |
9/1888. Chronic steadily progressive central and peripheral predominantly motor demyelination, involving the cranial nerves, responsive to immunoglobulins. The association of central and peripheral demyelination was reported previously. Most of the cases refer to central chronic relapsing demyelination with clinical criteria for multiple sclerosis associated with later signs of peripheral nerve involvement. Other authors, described central lesions in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and in guillain-barre syndrome, as a seldom occurrence. We report a patient in which a chronic steadily progressive central and peripheral predominantly motor nervous system demyelination, involving the cranial nerves, was identified. The patient improved after intravenous immunoglobulin suggesting an immune-mediated mechanism. To our knowledge this presentation was not described before. ( info) |
10/1888. sciatic nerve injury associated with fracture of the femoral shaft. The sciatic nerve escapes injury in most fractures of the femoral shaft. We report a case of sciatic nerve palsy associated with a fracture at the distal shaft of the femur. The common peroneal division of the sciatic nerve was lacerated by a bone fragment at the fracture site. Despite the delay in treatment, a satisfactory result was obtained. ( info) |