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Tidsskrift For Den Norske Laegeforening... Nov 2023Neurological disorders can present with a vast array of visual disturbances. The constellation of symptoms and findings in this patient prompted workup for unusual...
BACKGROUND
Neurological disorders can present with a vast array of visual disturbances. The constellation of symptoms and findings in this patient prompted workup for unusual causes of both stroke and neurodegenerative disorder.
CASE PRESENTATION
A woman in her sixties presented with visual disturbances, followed by weakness in her right arm and aphasia three days later. Her close acquaintances had suspected progressive cognitive decline during the previous year. CT and MRI showed an occluded left posterior cerebral artery with a subacute occipito-temporal infarction. The finding of extensive white matter lesions and segmental arterial vasoconstriction necessitated further workup of vasculitis and hereditary small vessel disease, which were ruled out. The stroke aetiology was considered to be atherosclerotic intracranial large vessel disease. FDG-PET scan revealed decreased metabolism in the left hemisphere, and cerebrospinal biomarkers had slightly decreased beta-amyloid. The findings were suggestive of early Alzheimer's disease or primary progressive aphasia, but currently inconclusive.
INTERPRETATION
Based on clinical-anatomical correlation, the patient's visual disturbances, in this case right hemianopsia and object agnosia, were solely related to the stroke and not to a neurodegenerative disorder. Knowledge and interpretation of visual agnosias can in many cases be clinically valuable.
Topics: Female; Humans; Agnosia; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Positron-Emission Tomography; Stroke; Vision Disorders; Aged
PubMed: 37938009
DOI: 10.4045/tidsskr.23.0198 -
Insights Into Imaging Jun 2016Hearing loss is a common functional disorder after trauma, and radiologists should be aware of the ossicular, labyrinthine or brain lesions that may be responsible.... (Review)
Review
UNLABELLED
Hearing loss is a common functional disorder after trauma, and radiologists should be aware of the ossicular, labyrinthine or brain lesions that may be responsible. After a trauma, use of a systematic approach to explore the main functional components of auditory pathways is essential. Conductive hearing loss is caused by the disruption of the conductive chain, which may be due to ossicular luxation or fracture. This pictorial review firstly describes the normal 2-D and 3-D anatomy of the ossicular chain, including the incudo-malleolar and incudo-stapedial joints. The role of 3-D CT in the post-traumatic evaluation of injury to the temporal bone is then evaluated. In the case of sensorineural hearing loss, CT can detect pneumolabyrinth and signs of perilymphatic fistulae but fails to detect subtle lesions within the inner ear, such as labyrinthine haemorrhage or localized brain axonal damage along central auditory pathways. The role that MRI with 3-D-FLAIR acquisition plays in the detection of inner ear haemorrhage and post-traumatic lesions of the brain parenchyma that may lead to auditory agnosia is also discussed.
KEY POINTS
• The most common middle ear injuries are incudo-malleolar and incudo-stapedial joint luxation. • In patients with SNHL, CT can detect pneumolabyrinth or perilymphatic fistula • 3-D-FLAIR MRI appears the best sequence to highlight labyrinthine haemorrhage • Axonal damage and brain hematoma may lead to deafness.
PubMed: 27085885
DOI: 10.1007/s13244-016-0490-9 -
Neuropsychologia Nov 2020Being aware of one's own ability to interact socially is crucial to everyday life. After a brain injury, patients may lose their capacity to understand others'... (Review)
Review
Being aware of one's own ability to interact socially is crucial to everyday life. After a brain injury, patients may lose their capacity to understand others' intentions and beliefs, that is, the Theory of Mind (ToM). To date, the debate on the association between ToM and other cognitive deficits (in particular executive functions and behavioural disorders) remains open and data regarding awareness of ToM deficits are meagre. By means of an ad-hoc neuropsychological battery of tests, we report on a patient who suffers from ToM deficits and is not aware of these disorders, although aware of his other symptoms. The study is accompanied by a review of the literature (PRISMA guidelines) demonstrating that ToM deficits are independent of executive functions. Furthermore, an advanced lesion analysis including tractography was executed. The results indicate that: i) ToM deficits can be specific and independent of other cognitive symptoms; ii) unawareness may be specific for ToM impairment and not involve other disorders and iii) the medial structures of the limbic, monitoring and attentional systems may be involved in anosognosia for ToM impairment.
Topics: Agnosia; Cognition Disorders; Executive Function; Humans; Neuropsychological Tests; Theory of Mind
PubMed: 33058921
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107641 -
Brain Communications 2022The Gerstmann syndrome is a constellation of neurological deficits that include agraphia, acalculia, left-right discrimination and finger agnosia. Despite a growing...
The Gerstmann syndrome is a constellation of neurological deficits that include agraphia, acalculia, left-right discrimination and finger agnosia. Despite a growing interest in this clinical phenomenon, there remains controversy regarding the specific neuroanatomic substrates involved. Advancements in data-driven, computational modelling provides an opportunity to create a unified cortical model with greater anatomic precision based on underlying structural and functional connectivity across complex cognitive domains. A literature search was conducted for healthy task-based functional MRI and PET studies for the four cognitive domains underlying Gerstmann's tetrad using the electronic databases PubMed, Medline, and BrainMap Sleuth (2.4). Coordinate-based, meta-analytic software was utilized to gather relevant regions of interest from included studies to create an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) map for each cognitive domain. Machine-learning was used to match activated regions of the ALE to the corresponding parcel from the cortical parcellation scheme previously published under the Human Connectome Project (HCP). Diffusion spectrum imaging-based tractography was performed to determine the structural connectivity between relevant parcels in each domain on 51 healthy subjects from the HCP database. Ultimately 102 functional MRI studies met our inclusion criteria. A frontoparietal network was found to be involved in the four cognitive domains: calculation, writing, finger gnosis, and left-right orientation. There were three parcels in the left hemisphere, where the ALE of at least three cognitive domains were found to be overlapping, specifically the anterior intraparietal area, area 7 postcentral (7PC) and the medial intraparietal sulcus. These parcels surround the anteromedial portion of the intraparietal sulcus. Area 7PC was found to be involved in all four domains. These regions were extensively connected in the intraparietal sulcus, as well as with a number of surrounding large-scale brain networks involved in higher-order functions. We present a tractographic model of the four neural networks involved in the functions which are impaired in Gerstmann syndrome. We identified a 'Gerstmann Core' of extensively connected functional regions where at least three of the four networks overlap. These results provide clinically actionable and precise anatomic information which may help guide clinical translation in this region, such as during resective brain surgery in or near the intraparietal sulcus, and provides an empiric basis for future study.
PubMed: 35706977
DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcac140 -
Neuroradiology Oct 2022A 23-year-old previously healthy man (Patient 1) and a 33-year-old woman with a past history of depression (Patient 2) developed neurological symptoms approximately...
A 23-year-old previously healthy man (Patient 1) and a 33-year-old woman with a past history of depression (Patient 2) developed neurological symptoms approximately 1 week after receipt of the first COVID-19 mRNA vaccination and deteriorated over the next week. Patient 1 reported nausea, headache, a high fever, and retrograde amnesia. Patient 2 reported visual disturbance, headache, dysarthria, a left forearm tremor, dysesthesia of the mouth and distal limbs, and visual agnosia. PCR test results for SARS-CoV-2 were negative. Complete blood cell count, biochemistry, and antibody test and cerebrospinal fluid test findings were unremarkable. Diffusion-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI of the brain showed a high signal intensity lesion at the midline of the splenium of the corpus callosum compatible with cytotoxic lesions of the corpus callosum (CLOCCs). High-dose intravenous methylprednisolone improved their symptoms and imaging findings. CLOCCs should be considered in patients with neurological manifestation after COVID-19 vaccination.
Topics: Adult; Antineoplastic Agents; COVID-19; COVID-19 Vaccines; Corpus Callosum; Encephalitis; Female; Headache; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; SARS-CoV-2; Vaccination; Young Adult
PubMed: 35809100
DOI: 10.1007/s00234-022-03010-y -
Neuropsychology Review Dec 2016In addiction, notably Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), patients often have a tendency to fail to acknowledge the reality of the disease and to minimize the physical,... (Review)
Review
In addiction, notably Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), patients often have a tendency to fail to acknowledge the reality of the disease and to minimize the physical, psychological, and social difficulties attendant to chronic alcohol consumption. This lack of awareness can reduce the chances of initiating and maintaining sobriety. Presented here is a model focusing on compromised awareness in individuals with AUD of mild to moderate cognitive deficits, in particular, for episodic memory impairment-the ability to learn new information, such as recent personal experiences. Early in abstinence, alcoholics can be unaware of their memory deficits and overestimate their mnemonic capacities, which can be investigated with metamemory paradigms. Relevant neuropsychological and neuroimaging results considered suggest that the alcoholics' impairment of awareness of their attenuated memory function can be a clinical manifestation explained mechanistically by neurobiological factors, including compromise of brain systems that result in a mild form of mnemonic anosognosia. Specifically, unawareness of memory impairment in AUD may result from a lack of personal knowledge updating attributable to damage in brain regions or connections supporting conscious recollection in episodic memory. Likely candidates are posterior parietal and medial frontal regions known to be integral part of the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the insula leading to an impaired switching mechanism between the DMN and the Central-Executive Control (i.e., Lateral Prefronto-Parietal) Network. The cognitive concepts and neural substrates noted for addictive disorders may also be relevant for problems in self-identification of functional impairment resulting from injury following war-related blast, sport-related concussion, and insidiously occurring dementia.
Topics: Agnosia; Animals; Humans; Memory Disorders; Neuroimaging; Neuropsychological Tests; Substance-Related Disorders
PubMed: 27447979
DOI: 10.1007/s11065-016-9323-3 -
European Journal of Neurology Dec 2022Ictal respiratory disturbances have increasingly been reported, in both generalized and focal seizures, especially involving the temporal lobe. Recognition of ictal...
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Ictal respiratory disturbances have increasingly been reported, in both generalized and focal seizures, especially involving the temporal lobe. Recognition of ictal breathing impairment has gained importance for the risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of ictal apnea (IA) and related hypoxemia during seizures.
METHODS
We collected and analyzed electroclinical data from consecutive patients undergoing long-term video-electroencephalographic (video-EEG) monitoring with cardiorespiratory polygraphy. Patients were recruited at the epilepsy monitoring unit of the Civil Hospital of Baggiovara, Modena Academic Hospital, from April 2020 to February 2022.
RESULTS
A total of 552 seizures were recorded in 63 patients. IA was observed in 57 of 552 (10.3%) seizures in 16 of 63 (25.4%) patients. Thirteen (81.2%) patients had focal seizures, and 11 of 16 patients showing IA had a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy; two had a diagnosis of frontal lobe epilepsy and three of epileptic encephalopathy. Apnea agnosia was reported in all seizure types. Hypoxemia was observed in 25 of 57 (43.9%) seizures with IA, and the severity of hypoxemia was related to apnea duration. Apnea duration was significantly associated with epilepsy of unknown etiology (magnetic resonance imaging negative) and with older age at epilepsy onset (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
Ictal respiratory changes are a frequent clinical phenomenon, more likely to occur in focal epilepsies, although detected even in patients with epileptic encephalopathy. Our findings emphasize the need for respiratory polygraphy during long-term video-EEG monitoring for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, as well as in relation to the potential link of ictal apnea with the SUDEP risk.
Topics: Humans; Apnea; Prospective Studies; Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy; Electroencephalography; Epilepsy; Seizures; Epilepsy, Generalized; Hypoxia
PubMed: 36057450
DOI: 10.1111/ene.15547 -
Medical Archives (Sarajevo, Bosnia and... Apr 2017Hemodialysis is one of major stresses in patients' daily lives since there is no other path for life maintenance but to accept the machine and its' related rules.
INTRODUCTION
Hemodialysis is one of major stresses in patients' daily lives since there is no other path for life maintenance but to accept the machine and its' related rules.
PURPOSE
of this study was to explore factors associated with dependency on dialysis machine as reported by the patients.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The sample of the study included 250 patients undergoing hemodialysis. For data collection a questionnaire specially designed for the needs of the research was used. More specifically, socio-demographic and clinical characteristics as well as several other self-reported variables were collected.
RESULTS
Of the 250 participants, 53.2% was men while 65.2% was aged over 60 years. The study showed that 44% of the patients reported that their life depended very much on hemodialysis machine. Statistically significant association was observed between dependency on dialysis machine as reported by the patients and gender (p=0.030), education (p=0.022), job (p=0.001) and place of residence (p=0.001). Additionally, statistically significant association was observed between dependency on dialysis machine as reported by the patients and the degree of information about their problem (p=0.001) and whether patients reported adherence to treatment guidelines (p=0.001) or followed the proposed diet (p=0.001). Finally, statistically significant association was observed between dependency on dialysis machine as reported by the patients and relations with nursing staff (p=0.001), whether patients had noticed change in body image (p=0.001), whether they faced difficulties in social (p=0.001) and family environment (p=0.030), whether they hid their problem (p=0.006), whether they needed help in daily activities (p=0.001) and whether their lifestyle had changed (p=0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics as well as hemodialysis patients' beliefs are associated with machine dependency. This study contributed in outlining factors affecting dependency on dialysis machine, thus reinforcing multidisciplinary health care teams to develop interventions in order to address hemodialysis patients' needs.
Topics: Activities of Daily Living; Adaptation, Psychological; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Agnosia; Family Relations; Female; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Kidneys, Artificial; Life Style; Male; Medication Adherence; Middle Aged; Professional-Patient Relations; Renal Dialysis; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders
PubMed: 28790544
DOI: 10.5455/medarh.2017.71.122-127 -
Epilepsia Mar 2018The aim of this study was to investigate periictal central apnea as a seizure semiological feature, its localizing value, and possible relationship with sudden...
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate periictal central apnea as a seizure semiological feature, its localizing value, and possible relationship with sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) pathomechanisms.
METHODS
We prospectively studied polygraphic physiological responses, including inductance plethysmography, peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO ), electrocardiography, and video electroencephalography (VEEG) in 473 patients in a multicenter study of SUDEP. Seizures were classified according to the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) 2017 seizure classification based on the most prominent clinical signs during VEEG. The putative epileptogenic zone was defined based on clinical history, seizure semiology, neuroimaging, and EEG.
RESULTS
Complete datasets were available in 126 patients in 312 seizures. Ictal central apnea (ICA) occurred exclusively in focal epilepsy (51/109 patients [47%] and 103/312 seizures [36.5%]) (P < .001). ICA was the only clinical manifestation in 16/103 (16.5%) seizures, and preceded EEG seizure onset by 8 ± 4.9 s, in 56/103 (54.3%) seizures. ICA ≥60 s was associated with severe hypoxemia (SpO <75%). Focal onset impaired awareness (FOIA) motor onset with automatisms and FOA nonmotor onset semiologies were associated with ICA presence (P < .001), ICA duration (P = .002), and moderate/severe hypoxemia (P = .04). Temporal lobe epilepsy was highly associated with ICA in comparison to extratemporal epilepsy (P = .001) and frontal lobe epilepsy (P = .001). Isolated postictal central apnea was not seen; in 3/103 seizures (3%), ICA persisted into the postictal period.
SIGNIFICANCE
ICA is a frequent, self-limiting semiological feature of focal epilepsy, often starting before surface EEG onset, and may be the only clinical manifestation of focal seizures. However, prolonged ICA (≥60 s) is associated with severe hypoxemia and may be a potential SUDEP biomarker. ICA is more frequently seen in temporal than extratemporal seizures, and in typical temporal seizure semiologies. ICA rarely persists after seizure end. ICA agnosia is typical, and thus it may remain unrecognized without polygraphic measurements that include breathing parameters.
Topics: Apnea; Death, Sudden; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Prospective Studies; Seizures
PubMed: 29336036
DOI: 10.1111/epi.14006 -
Biomedicines Mar 2021Dementia comprises a collection of cognitive and sensory symptoms, including memory loss, communication difficulties, difficulty in planning and problem solving,...
Dementia comprises a collection of cognitive and sensory symptoms, including memory loss, communication difficulties, difficulty in planning and problem solving, disorientation and confusion, compromised olfaction, loss of visual perception, agnosia; and psychological symptoms, including personality and behavioral changes, depression, anxiety, hallucination, mood swings, agitation, and apathy [...].
PubMed: 33807508
DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9030254