Toxoplasmosis presenting with multiple cranial nerve palsies and cavernous sinusitis: A case report

@#Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by an intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. We report here a diabetic patient who was diagnosed as toxoplasmosis with multiple cranial nerve palsies and cavernous sinusitis. A 37-year-old male presented with an 11-day history of gingival pain, one day history of ptosis and diplopia. He has been having diabetes mellitus for 6 years, and has a history of contact with cats. After admission, his symptoms worsened with right 3rd to 7th cranial nerve palsies. The brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed cavernous sinusitis in the right sellar region. Serology for toxoplasma was positive for IgM and negative IgG. The patient was treated with oral clindamycin (900 mg/day) and dexamethasone (15 mg/day). The right visual acuity and lid-conjunctival swelling improved after 3 days. At follow-up after a month, the movement of the right eye significantly improved. This case demonstrate the rare occurrence of multiple cranial nerve (3rd to 7th) palsies from toxoplasmosis cavernous sinusitis, which is a potentially treatable condition.

The efficacy and safety of Chai Hu Shu Gan San as an adjuvant drug for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the treatment of post-stroke depression: A meta-analysis

@#Post-stroke depression often seriously affects the prognosis and quality of life of patients and many clinical trials had shown that Chai Hu Shu Gan San (柴胡疏肝散) combined with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) had good efficacy and minor side effects. We aimed to conduct this metaanalysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Chai Hu Shu Gan San as an adjuvant drug for SSRI in treating post-stroke depression. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Wanfang, China Biology Medicine disc (CBM), Chongqing VIP, and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) from their date of foundation to December 15, 2018. Literature screening, data extraction and quality assessment were conducted by two authors independently. The data synthesis and analysis were performed by using Review Manager (RevMan) 5.3 software and sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness of the results. Finally, a total of 22 articles were included. The meta-analysis confirmed the advantages of the combination of SSRI and Chai Hu Shu Gan San, mainly from four aspects: the Hamilton Depression (HAMD) scale score (MD=3.66; 95% DI=2.33-4.98; p<0.001), the Modified Edinburgh Scandinavian Stroke Scale (MESSS) score (MD=4.87; 95% CI=2.32-7.43; p<0.001), the efficacy rate (OR=3.50; 95% CI =2.61-4.69; p<0.001) and the incidence of adverse reactions (OR=0.28; 95% CI=0.17-0.46; p<0.001). No significant publication bias was observed, and sensitivity analysis suggested a good stability of the results. According to the present evidence, we concluded that Chai Hu Shu Gan Sa

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy with spinal cord lesion: A case report and literature review

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leucoencephalopathy(CADASIL)is a common hereditary disease caused by NOTCH3 gene. The major clinical manifestations includerecurrent small-vessel ischaemic events, migraine, dementia and mood disturbance. Herein, wereport a 32-years-old male presented with right leg weakness and persistent migraine. We carried outneurological exams, genetic testing, blood and cerebrospinal fluid analysis (CSF) as well as magneticresonance imaging (MRI) for the brain and spinal cord. There were no anti-aquaporin-4 antibodiesand oligoclonal bands in the CSF and blood investigations were within the normal range. MRI scansrevealed multiple hyperintense regions in the brain and longitudinally hyperintense signal in spinal cord.Further, we identified a c.383G>A(p.Cys128Tyr) mutation in NOTCH3 gene. Therefore, the patientwas diagnosed with CADASIL concurrent with spinal cord lesion. The patient’s condition slightlyimproved after two weeks treatment with daily dosage of 0.5 g citicoline and 75 mg clopidogrel.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia with SPG30 mutation: A report from North East China

Hereditary spastic paraplegia is a heterogeneous group of genetic neurodegenerative disorders of the nervous system. It is classified into four subtypes based on the mode of inheritance; and among them, most autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia cases are due to type SPG11 and SPG15 gene mutations. Autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia cases with SPG30 gene mutation have never been reported in China. Herein, we present our experience with a case of hereditary spastic paraplegia with SPG30 gene mutation in our hospital from North East China. In this patient we detected a missense mutation of c.499 C>T (p.Arg167Cys) in gene KIF1A, a causative gene of type SPG30.