Superior Rectus-Levator Palpebrae Complex Myositis Presenting as Isolated Painless Ptosis

No abstract available.

Prediction of Hemorrhagic Transformation and Functional Outcome Using HAT Score in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Treated with Intravenous Alteplase

BACKGROUND: Intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase is the most effective therapy for acute ischemic stroke, but hemorrhagic transformation (HT) is a potentially dangerous complication of such thrombolysis. Few studies have investigated the predictors of HT after thrombolysis in Korean stroke patients. METHODS: From 2003 to 2009, acute ischemic stroke patients who received intravenous alteplase were included from the prospective stroke registry of Kyung Hee University Hospital. Patients submitted to CT or MRI scans with gradient echo sequences within 12-36 hours of thrombolysis. The Hemorrhage After Thrombolysis (HAT) score [ranging from 0 (minimum risk) to 5 (maximum risk)] was calculated retrospectively for each patient. The predictive ability of the HAT score for HT and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) was calculated using C statistics. RESULTS: Among 151 consecutive patients, HT was confirmed in 35 on follow-up brain imaging. Atrial fibrillation (OR=2.709, 95%CI=1.118-6.567) and low one-third CT scan (OR=3.419, 95%CI=1.281-9.121) increased the risk of HT after intravenous thrombolysis in multivariate logistic regression analysis. HT, sICH (based on the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Safe Implementation of Treatment in Stroke-Monitoring Study definitions), unfavorable [modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 2-6] and poor (mRS score of 3-6) outcomes at 3 months, and mortality at 3 months were increased with higher HAT scores (C statistic=0.632, 0.637, 0.843, 0.670, 0.689, and 0.659, respectively; p=0.018, 0.036, 0.042, 0.002, 0.015, and <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The HAT score can be used to predict the risk of sICH following intravenous thrombolysis and the long-term clinical outcome.

Plaque Rupture is a Determinant of Vascular Events in Carotid Artery Atherosclerotic Disease: Involvement of Matrix Metalloproteinases 2 and 9

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Unstable carotid atherosclerotic plaques are characterized by cap rupture, leading to thromboembolism and stroke. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been implicated in the progression of atherosclerosis and plaque rupture. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the expressions of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and carotid plaque instability. METHODS: Eighty atherosclerotic plaques were collected from 74 patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. Clinical information was obtained from each patient, and plaque morphology was examined at the macroscopic and microscopic levels. The immunohistochemical expressions of MMPs were graded using semiquantitative scales. RESULTS: Macroscopic ulceration (84.6% versus 63.4%, p=0.042) and microscopic cap rupture (79.5% versus 51.2%, p=0.010) were more common in symptomatic than in asymptomatic patients. Immunoreactivities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were increased in 40 and 36 atheromatous plaques, respectively. Macroscopic ulceration was strongly correlated with the expressions of MMP-2 (p<0.001) and MMP-9 (p=0.001). There were significant correlations between increased MMP-2 expression and cap rupture (p=0.002), intraplaque hemorrhage (p=0.039), and a thin fibrous cap (p=0.002), and between increased MMP-9 expression and cap rupture (p=0.010) and a large lipid core (p=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Plaque rupture was significantly associated with the development of vascular events in carotid atherosclerotic disease. MMP-2 and MMP-9 are strongly correlated with plaque instability.

Cerebral Infarction in a Young Female Patient With Renovascular Hypertension Caused by Fibromuscular Dysplasia

No abstract available.

Association of Serum Uric Acid With Early Prognosis Stratified by the Stroke Subtype in Patients With Moderate to Severe Ischemic Stroke

BACKGROUND: The role of uric acid in cerebrovascular disease is controversial. Uric acid may be an independent risk factor for cerebrovascular diseases but its neuroprotective role as an antioxidant has also been suggested. We studied the effects of uric acid on the early prognosis in acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: The subjects were 721 patients with moderate-to-severe acute stroke who arrived at hospital within 48 hours from the onset of symptoms. Patients were divided into quartiles based on serum uric acid levels at admission. In-hospital stroke outcome were calculated on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Differences in NIHSS scores between baseline and discharge in the patients were not significantly related to serum uric acid levels. However, in large artery atherosclerosis group, the proportion of patients with neurological improvement and differences in NIHSS score between baseline and discharge differed between the quartile uric acid groups (p<0.01 and p=0.04, respectively). A multivariate analysis adjusting for known vascular risk factors showed that a higher uric acid level was associated with a higher probability of a good in-hospital outcome (odds ratio, 1.31 per additional 1 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.60 per additional 1 mg/dL), but only in those with large-artery atherosclerosis. CONCLUSIONS: Uric acid level is independently correlated with the neurological improvement in patients with acute ischemic stroke caused by large-artery atherosclerosis.

Change of Serum Neuron Specific Enolase Level During Acute Stage of Cerebral Infarction

BACKGROUND: Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) is a useful indicator of neuronal injury in acute cerebral infarction. We investigated the changes in serial serum NSE levels in patients with acute cerebral infarction. METHODS: We measured serial serum NSE levels at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours, and 2 weeks after the onset of cerebral infarction in 30 patients (15 territorial and 15 lacunar infarctions). We also measured the NSE levels in age-matched controls (n=15) who had no evidence of acute stroke or other neurological disorders. The NSE level was measured using a radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: The initial serum NSE level was significantly higher in the cerebral infarction group than in the control group (6.6+/-2 vs 4.7+/-1.6 ng/mL [mean+/-SD], p=0.006). This difference was also observed between the territorial and lacunar infarction groups until 72 hours after the cerebral infarction. The serum NSE level peaked at 72 hours after the infarction in both lacunar and territorial infarction groups. The correlation between the NSE level and the score on the NIH Stroke Scale was strongest at 48 hours after the cerebral infarction (r=0.469). CONCLUSIONS: Serum NSE level can be a good indicator for distinguishing lacunar from territorial infarction during the acute stage of cerebral infarction.

Migrainous Vertigo

Patients with migraine frequently have hypersensitivity to light, sound, and smell. In addition to these hallmark features of migraine, patients often describe vestibular complaints ranging from true vertigo to less specific symptoms of dizziness, unsteadiness, and head motion intolerance. Over the last two decades a number of studies have stressed the association of migraine with vestibular and ocular motor disorders. Migraine may be a most common cause of various forms of episodic vertigo, but definite diagnostic criteria for migraine related vertigo are still lacking. As migrainous vertigo is an evolving entity, terminology is confusing and generally accepted diagnostic criteria are not established. The interrelations of migraine and dizziness can be classified into seven categories: (1) vertigo as an aura of migraine-basilar type migraine, (2) episodic vertigo attack without typical temporal relationship to migraine headache-migraine equivalent, (3) vertigo/dizziness during migraine attack, (4) susceptibility of motion sickness in migraine patients, (5) CACNA1A gene mutation and migraine-familial hemiplegic migraine, episodic ataxia type 2, (6) well defined vertigo syndromes that are not caused by migraine but show a statistical association with migraine-Meniere's disease, BPPV, (7) non-vestibular dizziness in migraine patients-psychiatric comorbidity, antimigraine medication. Each part of categories will be discussed.

Polyneuropathy and Cerebral Infarction Complicating Scrub Typhus

We describe a 64-year-old man with scrub typhus who presented with both polyneuropathy and cerebral infarction. A eurological examination revealed a confused mental state, stiff neck, hearing impairment, symmetric weakness, sensory loss, and ataxia. Electrophysiologic studies showed demyelinating sensorimotor polyneuropathy and sensorineural hearing loss. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple infarctions. Brain involvement or polyneuropathy associated with scrub typhus has been rarely reported, and the pathogenic mechanism underlying the multiple neurological complications remains to be elucidated.

Amnesic Syndrome in a Mammillothalamic Tract Infarction

It is controversial whether isolated lesions of mammillothalamic tract (MTT) produce significant amnesia. Since the MTT is small and adjacent to several important structures for memory, amnesia associated with isolated MTT infarction has been rarely reported. We report a patient who developed amnesia following an infarction of the left MTT that spared adjacent memory-related structures including the anterior thalamic nucleus. The patient s memory deficit was characterized by a severe anterograde encoding deficit and retrograde amnesia with a temporal gradient. In contrast, he did not show either frontal executive dysfunction or personality change that is frequently recognized in the anterior or medial thalamic lesion. We postulate that an amnesic syndrome can develop following discrete lesions of the MTT.

Clinical Characteristics of Nonagenarian Stroke

BACKGROUND: As the elderly population is fast growing, the incidence of stroke is also increasing. We studied the clinical characteristics of nonagenarian stroke compared to a population of patients under the age of ninety. METHODS: Subjects included 44 nonagenarian stroke patients and 22,227 control patients aged under ninety. Clinical characteristics including age, sex, risk factors, stroke subtype, and outcome (one-year prognosis, evaluated by a modified Rankin scale) were analyzed. RESULTS: The proportion of nonagenarian stroke accounted for 0.2% of all cases of stroke. Ischemic stroke was more common than hemorrhagic stroke in the nonagenarian group. In addition, the female gender was more frequent (p<0.01). As the patients were older, their admission period was shorter, the discharge against medical advice was increased, and the mortality was higher. Hypertension and atrial fibrillation were significantly higher (p<0.05, p<0.001, respectively) in the nonagenarian ischemic stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: Nonagenarian stroke patients have unique clinical characteristics compared with stroke patients under the age of ninety.

A Case Suggesting Spontaneous Spinal Cord Herniation Presented as Brown-Sequard Syndrome

No abstract available.

A Case of Isolated Traumatic Caudate Lesion with Marked Improvement in Visuospatial Function by Donepezil

Visuospatial dysfunction after isolated caudate lesion and improvement by donepezil has not been reported. Herein we report a 46-year old woman with visuospatial dysfunction after an isolated traumatic caudate lesion. Memory impairment and visuospatial dysfunction with normal frontal executive functioning was found in the first neuropsychological test. Her brain MRI showed an isolated right caudate lesion in the dorsal portion. Donepezil was prescribed. On follow-up neuropsychological testing, memory and visuospatial function increased by more than 100% from the base line.

A Case of Occipital Condyle Syndrome Associated with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Occipital condyle syndrome, which consists of unilateral occipital region pain associated with ipsilateral 12th cranial nerve paresis, is a rare, but stereotypic syndrome. Herein, we report a patient with occipital condyle syndrome associated with metastasis at the skull base from the hepatocellular carcinoma.

Comparison of the NIH Stroke Scale and the Modified NIH Stroke Scale by Classification and Location of Cerebral Infarction

BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is regarded as a valid and reliable tool to measure the severity of neurological deficits in acute stroke, but has been criticized for its complexity and variability. Therefore, the modified NIHSS (mNIHSS) was developed, eliminating redundant and less reliable items from the full version of the NIHSS. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of the mNIHSS according to the subtypes of stroke and the location of affected arterial territories. METHODS: The severity of stroke in 155 patients with acute cerebral infarction was measured. Each patient was evaluated by two neurologists using both the NIHSS and mNIHSS, and the stroke subtype was determined according to the TOAST classification. The vascular territory of lesion was classified into an anterior and posterior circulation. The criterion-related validity was evaluated by the Pearson Correlation Coefficient between the NIHSS and mNIHSS scores. RESULTS: When considering the NIHSS scores as the gold criteria, the Pearson correlation coefficients of the mNIHSS were 0.96 in the subtype of large artery atherosclerosis, 0.91 in small vessel occlusion, 0.98 in cardioembolism, and 0.99 in undetermined etiology. On the other hand, the correlation coefficient was 0.98 in patients with an anterior circulation infarction, and was 0.94 in patients with a posterior circulation infarction. CONCLUSIONS: The criterion-related validity of the mNIHSS scoring system was very high in general. However, the correlations were relatively low in patients with the TOAST subtype of small vessel occlusion and also a posterior circulation infarction.

Compressive Myelopathy due to Ossification of Ligamentum Flavum in a Patient with Primary Hypoparathyroidism

No abstract available.

Incidence of Patent Foramen Ovale in Ischemic Stroke Patients: A Transcranial Doppler Study

BACKGROUND: Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is increasingly being recognized in stroke patients. The capability of transcranial Doppler (TCD) to detect a PFO has been established. We studied the frequency of PFO in patients with ischemic stroke. METHODS: Eighty-nine patients with ischemic stroke (62 men, mean age: 56.5) consecutively underwent a contrast-enhanced TCD with monitoring of the bilateral middle cerebral arteries (MCA). The contrast solution, which consisted of 8 ml of normal saline, 1 ml of air, and 0.2 ml of patient's blood, was injected twice during normal breathing and the Valsalva maneuver. High intensity transient signals (HITS) were counted for 30 seconds after the injection. RESULTS: Patent foramen ovale was detected in 19 patients (21%). The mean age was similar in those with (55 years) and those without (57 years) PFO. Patent foramen ovale was more frequent among men (26%) than women (11%). There were no differences in the frequency of PFO among stroke subtypes (large artery atherosclerosis, 18%; small artery occlusion, 27%; cardioembolic, 27%; undetermined cause, 11%). CONCLUSIONS: Patent foramen ovale is common in patients with ischemic stroke of all subtypes.

The Usage of Intravenous Heparin in Acute Ischemic Stroke in 10 Teaching Hospitals

BACKGROUND: Treatment with heparin has been an area of great controversy among neurologists. The goal of this study was to compare the actual usage patterns of intravenous heparin according to the stroke subtype, location, severity of the stroke, different hospitals, and various departments. METHODS: The records of 1204 patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to 10 teaching hospitals between January 2000 and December 2000 were reviewed. The patients were divided into two groups of whether or not they were given intravenous heparin. Cases of acute ischemic stroke were subdivided according to the TOAST classification. Patients with NIH Stroke Scale scores were categorized as having mild, moderate, and severe stroke. Terminal hospital stays were subdivided further by department: internal medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, rehabilitation medicine, and others. RESULTS: 512 patients (42.5%) were treated with heparin. The usage of heparin in the case of large artery atherosclerosis occupied 46%, small vessel occlusion 31 percent, cardioembolism 73%, other determined etiology 33%, and undetermined etiology 46%. Heparin was used to treat 46% of the patients with a lesion of anterior circulation, 49% of posterior circulation, and 38% of both anterior and posterior circulation. Heparin was more frequently used for moderate and severe strokes compared to mild strokes. CONCLUSIONS: The utilization of intravenous heparin was more frequent in treatment of the cardioembolism subtype and moderate-to-severe strokes. Practice variation according to the hospitals and discharge departments were manifested.

A Case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome Presented with Isolated Internal Ophthalmoplegia and Babinski Sign

No abstract available.

Delayed Radiation Myelopathy: Serial Changes of MRI Findings

It is very difficult to differentiate radiation myelopathy from metastatic intramedullary spinal cord tumor. We described a case of chronic progressive radiation myelopathy, in which serial magnetic resonance imaging was of great value for the differential diagnosis.

Intravenous rt-PA Fibrinolytic Therapy in Acute Carotid Territory Ischemic Stroke with Severe Neurologic Deficits: The Implication of Arterial Recanalization for Stroke Outcome

BACKGROUND: Our previous pilot study demonstrated that intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator(rt-PA) fibrinolytic therapy was effective in treatment of effects of acute ischemic stroke within 3 hours of onset. We studied whether rt-PA was effective and safe in patients with acute carotid artery territory ischemic stroke with severe neurologic deficits (National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score >14 points) and whether arterial recanalization after rt-PA infusion influenced the initial neurologic improvements within 24 hours and the stroke outcome at 3 months. METHODS: Twenty eligible patients had pre- and post-treatment computed tomogram and pre-treatment magnetic resonance angiogram. Fourteen patients had post-treatment magnetic resonance angiogram at 24 hours after stroke onset. Endpoints examined included initial neurological improvement at 2 and 24 hours by NIHSS and clinical stroke outcome at 3 months by a modified Rankin scale and the effect of recanalization on initial improvement and stroke outcome. RESULTS: Out of 20 patients, 9 patients (45%) showed initial improvement at 2 hours and 10 patients (50%) at 24 hours. Five patients (25%) had intracranial hemorrhages (symptomatic; 2). Twelve patients (60%) showed good clinical stroke outcome at 3 months. Complete or partial recanalization was observed in 11 patients (55%) at 24 hours after stroke onset. Recanalization correlated with good initial improvement and stroke outcome (p<0.05 and <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Recanalization may have an association with good clinical outcome after rt-PA infusion within 3 hours of stroke onset in patients with acute carotid artery territory stroke with severe neurologic deficits.