Man-in-the-Barrel Syndrome Secondary to Idiopathic Acute Anterior Spinal Artery Infarction.

A 52-year-old female presented to our hospital with an acute history of isolated bilateral arm weakness. An MRI of the cervical spine confirmed an acute anterior spinal artery infarction. Further investigations to determine a specific etiology were unremarkable, leading to a diagnosis of idiopathic anterior spinal artery infarction consistent with Man-in-the-Barrel syndrome.

Neurosarcoidosis presenting with persistent vomiting.

Sarcoidosis is a multi-system granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. It mainly affects the lungs more than other organs, but liver, skin, lymph nodes, and nervous system can be involved. The last is referred to as neurosarcoidosis with a wide range of clinical manifestations depending on the area of the nervous system involved. The differential diagnosis is wide, and the diagnosis, which is based on the histopathology, is sometimes difficult to confirm. Magnetic resonance imaging is the imaging modality of choice for establishing CNS involvement along with the clinical presentation. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis is indicative of the disease activity. We report a 39-year-old man of Indian origin who presented with persistent vomiting for over 2 years due to hypopituitarism and active neurosarcoidosis.

Hypokalemic periodic paralysis associated with malignant hyperthermia.

Hypokalemic periodic paralysis is in most cases related to mutations within the dihydropyridine receptor gene. Susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia has been linked to a different part of the same gene, but is more frequently caused by mutations within the ryanodine receptor gene. We report the association of the two disorders in a patient for whom the most frequent mutations for hypokalemic periodic paralysis were not found. This suggests further genetic heterogeneity of this condition, the interest of this case residing in the known coupling between dihydropyridine and ryanodine receptors.