Two Cases of Chronic Acquired Hepatocerebral Degeneration with Parkinsonian Symptoms

Chronic acquired hepatocerebral degeneration (CAHD) is a progressive or episodic neurologic syndrome that occurs occasionally in patients who have chronic liver disease or portocaval shunt. The clinical features of CAHD include action and postural tremors, generalized chorea, asterixis, myoclonus, dystonia, resting tremor, gait ataxia, and variable impairments of intellectual function. We experienced 2 cases of CAHD with unusual neurologic manifestations, which were hypokinetic parkinsonian symptoms. Both cases had a history of liver cirrhosis and the same symptoms. They had masked faces, cogwheel rigidiy in both wrists, slurred speech, tongue tremor, bradykinesia, and gait ataxia. They had normal mental status and no pathologic reflex. Brain MRI showed abnormal, increased signal on T1-weighted images in the globus pallidus and mesencephalon bilaterally. The hypokinetic parkinsonian symptoms disappeared when given doses levodopa.

Two Cases of Acute Esotropia in Contralateral Thalamic Hemorrhage

Monocular gaze palsies which result from a supranuclear cerebral lesion are rare clinical manifestations. The prefrontal cortico-oculomotor pathways travel across the thalamus and mesodiencephalic junction terminating directly in oculomotor complexes. These pathways exist bilaterally and the contralateral oculomotor bundle exerts an inhibitory influence upon the oculomotor neurons, particularly those related to the medial rectus muscle. The acute disinhibition of these neurons by a posterior thalamic lesion results in a sustained but transient discharge of the medial rectus and tonic activation. Impairment of monocular projections in the contralateral posterior thalamus could result in a tonic activation of the medial rectus, analogous to the conjugate gaze deviation observed with a frontal lobe lesion. We describe two patients with an acute onset of esotropia and contralateral supranuclear lesions - thalamic hemorrhages.

Spontaneous Dissecting Aneurysm in the Proximal Portion of the Posterior Inferior Cerebellar Artery

A spontaneous dissecting Aneurysm of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery(PICA) is a very rare cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) or ischemic stroke. We report a 53-year-old male patient with left PICA territory infarction due to the spontaneous dissection of the PICA. A Brain MRI revealed an infarction of the left PICA territory and an angiography showed spindle-shaped dilatations of the left PICA followed by an irregular luminal narrowing. An angiography taken 3 months later showed spontaneous resolution of the left PICA dissecting aneurysm. The management of the intracranial dissecting aneurysm is still controversial. Some authors recommend surgical approaches for the prevention of SAH while others present medical management. Our case showed spontaneous regression of the PICA dissecting aneurysm.