Fragile X-Associated Tremor/Ataxia Syndrome: An Illustrative Case

No abstract available.

Hyponatremia during Acyclovir Treatment of Bell's Palsy

A 61-year-old woman with chronic kidney disease presented with general weakness and a confused mentality. Two days before admission she had been diagnosed as Bell's palsy at an outpatient clinic, and started to take oral prednisolone and acyclovir. A blood test at admission revealed hyponatremia (128 mmol/L). After withdrawing acyclovir, her plasma sodium levels began to increase, returning to normal 2 weeks later. This case could provide further evidence for a causal relationship between acyclovir and hyponatremia.

Delayed Surgery for Aortic Dissection after Intravenous Thrombolysis in Acute Ischemic Stroke

We report a case of aortic dissection masquerading as acute ischemic stroke followed by intravenous thrombolysis. A 59-year-old man presented with dizziness. After examination, the patient had a seizure with bilateral Babinski signs. Soon after identifying multiple acute infarctions in both hemispheres on diffusion-weighted brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) was administered. Both common carotid arteries were invisible on MR angiography, and subsequent chest computed tomography revealed an aortic dissection. The emergency operation was delayed for 13 hours due to t-PA administration. The patient died of massive bleeding.

The Impact of Celebrity Suicide on Subsequent Suicide Rates in the General Population of Korea from 1990 to 2010

The association between celebrity suicide and subsequent increase in suicide rates among the general population has been suggested. Previous studies primarily focused on celebrity suicides in the 2000s. To better understand the association, this study examined the impacts of celebrity suicides on subsequent suicide rates using the data of Korean celebrity suicides between 1990 and 2010. Nine celebrity suicides were selected by an investigation of media reports of suicide deaths published in three major newspapers in Korea between 1990 and 2010. Suicide mortality data were obtained from the National Statistical Office of Korea. Seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average models with intervention analysis were used to test the impacts of celebrity suicides, controlling for seasonality. Six of the 9 celebrity suicides had significant impacts on suicide rates both in the total population and in the same gender- or the same age-subgroups. The incident that occurred in the 1990s had no significant impact on the overall suicide rates, whereas the majority of the incidents in the 2000s had significant influences for 30 or 60 days following each incident. The influence of celebrity suicide was shown to reach its peak following the suicide death of a renowned actress in 2008. The findings may suggest a link between media coverage and the impact of celebrity suicide. Future studies should focus more on the underlying processes and confounding factors that may contribute to the impact of celebrity suicide on subsequent suicide rates.

Assessment of Vestibular Functional Recovery Using Video Head Impulse Test in Vestibular Neuritis / 대한평형의학회지

OBJECTIVE: The video head impulse test (vHIT) is useful for evaluation of high frequency vestibulo-ocular reflex. There are a few reports regarding the recovery of head impulse test in vestibular neuritis (VN) but the factors for the recovery were not studied. The study aimed to identify the recovery patterns of vHIT in VN and the factors influencing the recovery. METHODS: Among 31 patients with acute VN, 18 patients with identified recovery pattern were selected. We conducted serial checks of subjective vertigo and spontaneous nystagmus until discharged (1-8 days), and scheduled vHITs. We found three patterns in serial vHITs during follow-ups and analyzed the relationship of initial vestibular function tests, serial check-ups of subjective vertigo, bedside neuro-otologic tests, and vHITs. RESULTS: Five patients showed normal vHIT gain in acute stage (non-damaged pattern) and 8 patients' gains were recovered after 30 days after symptom onset (early recovered pattern). Poor recovery pattern was found in 5 patients (poorly recovered pattern). There were relationship between vHIT recovery patterns and the severity of vestibular dysfunctions. Duration of spontaneous nystagmus (until grade 1), degree of subjective visual vertical tilt, ocular vestibular myogenic potential abnormalities, and abnormality of rotatory chair test were all related to poorly recovered vHIT patterns. All poor recovery patients had residual symptom at 30 days after symptom onset. CONCLUSION: The vHIT may give clinicians useful hints in predicting prognosis in VN, and the recovery of vHIT would be delayed if the damage were more extensive.

High Altitude Remains Associated with Elevated Suicide Rates after Adjusting for Socioeconomic Status: A Study from South Korea

There have been several studies supporting a possible relationship between high suicide rate and high altitude. However socioeconomic status may confound this association because low socioeconomic status, which is known to be related to a high suicide rate, is also associated with living at high altitude. This study aims to explore whether the relationship between high altitude and high suicide rate remains after adjusting for socioeconomic status in South Korea. We collected demographic data of completed suicides, the mean altitude of the district where each suicide took place, and the mean income of each district. We analyzed the data using regression analysis before and after adjustment for mean income. We found that there is a positive correlation between altitude and suicide rate, even after adjustment for mean income. Thus, altitude appears to be an independent risk factor for suicide.