Persistent trigeminal artery associated with an occipital arteriovenous malformation: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Persistent trigeminal artery or persistent primitive trigeminal artery (PTA) is the most common carotid-basilar anastomosis in both cadaveric and live patient studies, followed by persistent hypoglossal and persistent otic arteries. Approximately 0.2% of all angiographies reported this finding. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 21-year-old male who arrived at the emergency department with tonic‒clonic seizures. After performing diagnostic contrast magnetic resonance imaging and digital subtraction angiography, the patient was diagnosed with a right occipital arteriovenous malformations (AVM) fed by the right calcarine artery associated with an ipsilateral PTA. After considering surgical and endovascular treatment options, the patient was selected for watchful waiting. We included a literature review of the PTA, the results of a PubMed search regarding the combined presence of these findings, and a brief discussion providing insight into the implications for treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Although several studies have linked PTA to different vascular pathologies, such as cerebral aneurysms, the association between PTA and AVMs remains scarce. This case, along with the literature review, shows that further research is needed to characterize the relationship between these findings.

Ischemic stroke in young adults in Bogota, Colombia: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: There has been an increase in the incidence of ischemic stroke in young adults. It is believed that it is due to the increase in traditional cardiovascular risk factors. This change has affected the quality of life of young adults. AIMS: To describe the most common etiologies and risk factors in patients aged ≤ 50 who had ischemic stroke between 2011 and 2018. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study of patients under 50 years who had ischemic stroke between 2011 and 2018 who were evaluated at a comprehensive center in Bogotá, Colombia. We carried out a descriptive analysis of comorbidities, the Trial of Org for Acute Stroke (TOAST), the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). RESULTS: A total of 152 patients were included, out of which 50.66% were men. The most frequent traditional risk factors were smoking history (19%), history of high blood pressure (18%), presence of cardiovascular disease (17%), and history of migraine (15%). The most common etiological subgroups were those classified as "other determined etiologies" (33.5%) and "undetermined etiology" (33.5%), while the most common etiology was carotid or vertebral artery dissection (23%). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the need to make a deep evaluation of the past medical history, laboratory tests, and new risk factors in young adults. On the other hand, modifiable cardiovascular risk factors top the list, showing the need to implement health promotion strategies for young adults.

Síndrome de vasoconstricción cerebral reversible secundario a un paraganglioma yugular secretor de metanefrinas / Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome secondary to secreting jugular paraganglioma

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Síndrome de vasoconstricción cerebral reversible asociado a anastrozol: una causa inusual de alto impacto / Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome associated with anastrozole: an unusual cause of high impact

Introducción. El síndrome de vasoconstricción cerebral reversible (SVCR) es una entidad de baja incidencia, de etiología multifactorial y amplio espectro de presentación. El principal síntoma es la cefalea de tipo trueno. Puede estar acompañado de focalización neurológica y cursar con desenlaces clínicos variable que incluso pueden llevar a la muerte. El diagnóstico es clínico e imaginológico, y el tratamiento incluye adoptar medidas generales de monitorización, manejo sintomático, identificar la etiología y actuar sobre ella para evitar recurrencia. Caso clínico. Mujer de 71 años con antecedente de cáncer de seno, tratada inicialmente con tamoxifeno; por presentar urticaria, se escalonó tratamiento con anastrozol. Ingresó por cefalea de tipo trueno, afasia anterior y somnolencia. La paciente refirió un evento similar una semana antes del ingreso. En la resonancia magnética cerebral evidenció una hemorragia subaracnoidea (HSA) pequeña de la convexidad temporoparietal izquierda, y la panangiografía documentó vasoespasmo en la región parietal posterior, lo que confirmó el diagnóstico de SVCR más HSA. Durante el ingreso presentó tres eventos de iguales características, que requirieron monitorización intensiva y dos panangiografías terapéuticas con nimodipino intraarterial, con posterior resolución del vasoespasmo. Permanece asintomática seis meses después. Conclusión. El SVCR constituye un reto diagnóstico dada su presentación variable y su etiología multifactorial. En este caso, el SVCR más HSA está asociado al uso de anastrozol. Hasta el momento no hay casos descritos de inhibidores de la aromatasa asociados a esta patología, que debe comunicarse para su farmacovigilancia

Introduction. Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) is a low incidence disability with a multifactorial etiology and a wide array of symptoms. The main symptom is a thunderclap headache, accompanied sometimes with various neurological deficits that can lead to death. RCVS is usually diagnosed through radiological imaging technology. The treatment includes adopting general measures of monitoring, symptomatic management, identifying the etiology and acting on it to avoid recurrence. Case report. A 71-year-old woman with a history of breast cancer originally treated with tamoxifen. Due to urticaria, the anastrozole management was staggered. She was admitted for aphasia, drowsiness and a thunderclap headache. The patientreported a similar event two weeks prior admission. In rain resonance, there was evidence of small sub-arachnoidal haemorrhage (SAH) of the left parietal temporal convexity and cerebral angiography. As well as documented vasospasm in the posterior parietal region confirming the diagnosis of RCVS plus SAH. During the stay, she presented three events with the same characteristics, requiring intensive monitoring and two therapeutic panangiographies with intra-arterial nimodipine with subsequent resolution of the vessel spasm. The patient remains asymptomatic six months later. Conclusion. RCVS is difficult to diagnose given its wide array of symptoms and multifactorial etiology. In this case, RCVS plus SAH is associated with the use of anastrozole. So far there are no reported cases of aromatase inhibitors associated with this pathology and should be reported in the literature for pharmacovigilance

Specificity and sensitivity of aquaporin 4 antibody detection tests in patients with neuromyelitis optica: A meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Antibodies against water channel protein aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in astrocytes play a role in the etiology and physiopathology of neuromyelitis optica (NMO); detection of this immunoglobulin in serum is highly suggestive of this diagnosis. There are several immunoassays to detect the antibody with different sensitivities and specificities. We conducted a meta-analysis to determine the overall diagnostic accuracy from these tests. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review in five different electronic databases: Pubmed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Scopus, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effect (DARE) and Lilacs. We included both case control and consecutive enrollment studies that evaluated the performance of the immunoassays in patients with suspected NMO in comparison with the 2006 Wingerchuk diagnostic criteria. Articles were assessed by two different reviewers, who also extracted data. RESULTS: 30 studies for three different immunoassays were included in the meta-analysis. To obtain a summary estimate for the sensitivity and specificity with 95% confidence interval a bivariate random effect model was used. The approximated sensitivity for the cell based assay (CBA), the tissue-based assay (TBA) and the ELISA test were 0.76(95% CI 0.67-0.82), 0.59(95% CI 0.50-0.67), and 0.65(95% CI 0.53-0.75) respectively. The mean specificity of the CBA was 0.99 (95% CI 0.97-0.99), TBA 0.98 (95% CI 0.97-0.99) and ELISA 0.97(95% CI 0.96-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: AQP4 detection in serum with immunoassay is a great tool for the diagnosis of patients with NMO, due to the high specificity, allowing the clinician to differentiate this disease from other neurological conditions that resemble NMO.

Validez diagnóstica de la detección de anticuerpos anti-acuaporina 4 (AQP4) para el diagnóstico clínico de neuromielitis óptica (NMO) / Diagnostic validity of the detection of anti-aquaporin 4 antibodies (AQP4) for the clinical diagnosis of optic neuromyelitis (NMO)

Introducción: La neuromielitis óptica (NMO) es un trastorno autoinmune inflamatorio del sistema nervioso \r\ncentral (SNC) que hasta hace poco se consideraba parte del espectro de la esclerosis múltiple (EM). Sinembargo, desde la identificación del anticuerpo anti-NMO se diferenció de otras enfermedades esmielinizantes; la detección del anticuerpo es ahora un factor determinante para el adecuado diagnóstico de NMO. Objetivo: Confirmar la validez diagnóstica de la detección de los anti-NMO para un adecuado diagnóstico de NMO. Métodos: Se realizó una búsqueda sistemática de la literatura para encontrar cuál es la efectividad en \r\nel diagnóstico clínico de los anti-NMO y las distintas pruebas inmunológicas que existen para la detección de los mismos. Resultados: Se encontró que la detección de los anti-NMO es altamente específica y que en la actualidad existen 7 pruebas inmunológicas disponibles para su detección. Conclusiones: Se realizó un metanálisis con los resultados disponibles de la sensibilidad y especificidad de las pruebas de detección de anti-NMO y se encontró que la de mejores características operativas corresponden a la prueba basada en células.(AU)