Visual evoked potentials in neurobrucellosis

To investigate whether visual evoked potentials [VEPs] are valuable for distinguishing between brucellosis with or without neurological involvement. A total of 23 patients who were admitted to the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, and Neurology, Ministry of Health Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey between December 2004 and August 2005 with a diagnosis of brucellosis were included in this study. After a detailed neurological and ophthalmological examination, VEPs were recorded. The P100 latencies and amplitudes were compared between the group of brucellosis [n=17] and neurobrucellosis [n=6] patients. Although there was no difference in the mean P100 latencies between the groups [n=17 for brucellosis, and n=6 for neurobrucellosis] [p=0.38], the mean P100 amplitude in patients with neurobrucellosis was significantly lower [p=0.012]. It could be emphasized that VEPs might reflect an underlying axonal pathology as a distinctive feature in neurobrucellosis

Salmonellosis and ulcerative colitis. A causal relationship or just a coincidence

Coincidence of salmonellosis and ulcerative colitis is a rare clinical problem. Salmonella infection was reported to complicate the ulcerative colitis, as either facilitating its occurrence or activation. In this article, we present a case with salmonellosis whose clinicopathological findings also suggested ulcerative colitis. The patient improved rapidly after taking additional mesalazine to norfloxacin treatment. We conclude that salmonella infection might have either been coincidentally present or might have triggered an early ulcerative colitis in this patient who did not have history of inflammatory bowel diseases. In case of persistent severe diarrhea despite appropriate treatment, the possibility of a coincident inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis should always be considered, especially in endemic regions for salmonellosis