[Posterior cortical atrophy: anatomo-clinical variant of Alzheimer's disease]. / L'atrophie corticale postérieure: variante anatomo-clinique de la maladie d'Alzheimer.

The authors report the case of a 66-year-old woman who developed progressive occipital dysfunction and lately a dementing illness. Brain CT revealed posterior cerebral atrophy. Post-mortem examination showed the characteristic features of Alzheimer's disease, mainly in the posterior areas, relatively sparing the amygdala and Ammon's horn. The occurrence of focal signs and lesions in Alzheimer's disease is emphasized.

[Paroxysmal hemicrania preceding Pancoast's syndrome]. / Hémicranie paroxystique inaugurant un syndrome de Pancoast.

A case of Pancoast's syndrome whose first symptom was facial pain is reported. Pain was identical to chronic paroxysmal hemicrania described by Sjaastad and Dale in 1974. It seems to result from a lesion of the sympathetic nerves in the neck.

[Crossed aphasia in a right-handed patient]. / Aphasie croisée chez un droitier.

A case of crossed aphasia in a right-handed patient provided evidence that cerebral dominance for speech may be located in the right hemisphere. Intravenous injection of amytal in the left carotid artery did not worsen the language disturbances. Comparison of this case with those reported shows that there is not a constant model with only one physiopathological mechanism for all cases of crossed aphasia in right-handed patients.

[Multiple cranial nerve involvement associated with tentorial pachymeningitis of granulomatous type]. / Atteinte multiple des paires crâniennes associée à une pachyméningite tentorielle à caractère granulomateux.

Otitis media in a 43 year-old male patient was followed by signs of chronic meningitis with persistent headaches, moderate pleiomorphic lymphocytosis of CSF without hypoglycorrhachia and unilateral impairment of cranial nerves XI to II. These signs were accompanied by widespread inflammation with general deterioration of the patient's condition. After a time the tentorium of cerebellum showed thickening and significant contrast uptake in conjunction with necrotizing granulomatous inflammation, indicating tentorial pachymeningitis. Swift and complete remission was obtained with a corticoid-cyclophosphamide combination. After reviewing the other possible causes of chronic meningitis, the authors proposed a diagnosis of Wegener's disease of auricular origin in view of the compatibility of all the data. A few cases of cranial pachymeningitis of indeterminate origin are described in the literature. Only this patient was treated with a corticoid-cyclophosphamide combination. The remarkable efficacy of this double therapy confirms the diagnostic hypothesis of Wegener's granulomatosis.

[Alexia without agraphia. Anatomical basis and physiopathological mechanisms]. / Alexie sans agraphie. Bases anatomiques et mécanismes physiopathologiques.

Clinical, neuropsychological and radiological signs were studied in a patient suffering from pure alexia associated with right superior quadrantanopia. The lesion responsible for the defects was located in the periventricular white substance at the level of the left inferior occipitotemporal convolutions. These structures seem to constitute the pathway of the visual information channelled from the two hemispheres towards the language centres. The lesion therefore disconnects the angular gyrus from its visual information and gives rise to alexia without agraphia.

Monitoring and tentative diagnosis of herpetic encephalitis by protein analysis of cerebrospinal fluid. Particular relevance of the assays of ferritin and S-100.

The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 9 patients with herpetic encephalitis was analyzed by particle counting immunoassay of ferritin, S-100, immunoglobulins, anti-herpes antibodies and immune complexes and by electrophoresis for the detection of oligoclonal bands. The main conclusions are: first, the simultaneous increase of both ferritin and S-100 in the presence of symptoms of encephalitis suggests strongly the infection is herpetic; second, high and increasing levels of S-100, probably related to the extent of the necrotic process, indicate a poor prognosis. In addition, 8-14 days after onset, locally produced anti-herpes antibodies were detectable, the IgG index increased and oligoclonal bands became visible.

[CAT mirror image in a case of cerebral malignant lymphoma (author's transl)]. / Image tomodensitométrique en miroir dan un cas de lymphome malin du cerveau.

Diffuse multicentric sarcomas of the brain, also called cerebral malignant lymphomas, sometimes present symmetrical topography. This is well demonstrated by a CAT mirror image obtained by the authors in the reported case. The diagnostic value of the image is underlined in view of the possible forms of therapy, in particular radiation therapy, applicable to this type of tumour. (Acta neurol. belg., 1980, 80, 86-94).