[Headache in puerperium]. / Een kraamvrouw met hoofdpijn.

BACKGROUND: Sheehan's syndrome is a rare complication of excessive postpartum hemorrhage with impaired function of the pituitary gland (hypopituitarism). Clinical presentation includes headache, fatigue, nausea, symptoms due to electrolyte imbalance and pituitary hormone insufficiency. Cranial imaging can support the diagnosis if pituitary gland ischemia or empty sella sign is detected. Therapy is based on correction of hypovolemia in the acute setting, symptom reduction and chronic hormone replacement treatment. CASE: We report a case of a patient who developed Sheehan's syndrome as a result of severe blood loss during cesarean section. Brain imaging in this case was initially performed with an alternative differential diagnosis in mind. CONCLUSION: Differential diagnosis of headache in puerperium is comprised of a spectrum of syndromes, in which attention for medical and patient history are key. In Sheehan's syndrome early diagnosis is of crucial prognostic importance.

Sublingual microvascular changes in patients with cerebral small vessel disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: It is unknown whether changes in cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) are limited to the brain or part of a generalized vascular disorder. METHODS: We examined the sublingual microcirculation of 10 healthy controls, 10 patients with large vessel disease, and 8 with SVD, with side-stream dark field imaging. We analyzed 146 video fragments masked to the origin of the videos. Imaging software measured the functional capillary density per tissue surface unit. We scored the percentage of blood vessels with abnormal flow (abnormal flow index) and the presence of extravascular erythrocyte material as presumed evidence of past microbleeds or obliterated vessels. RESULTS: Functional capillary density differed between the 3 groups (SVD, large vessel disease, and controls; means, 14.8, 17.0, and 16.1 mm/mm2; P=0.01). Abnormal flow was more frequent in SVD patients compared with large vessel disease patients and controls (medians, 10.5%, 6.1%, 5.5%; P=0.04). Extravascular erythrocyte material was almost exclusively present in patients with SVD (P=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of pathological changes in the sublingual microcirculation in patients with cerebral small vessel disease, which suggests that cerebral SVD is part of a generalized vascular disorder.

Validation of near-infrared laser speckle imaging for assessing microvascular (re)perfusion.

The present study was conducted to compare laser speckle imaging (LSI) with sidestream dark field (SDF) imaging (i.e., capillary microscopy) so as to validate the use of LSI for assessing microvascular (re)perfusion. For this purpose, LSI and SDF measurements were performed on the human nail fold during gradual occlusion of the upperarm circulation to modify nail fold perfusion under controlled circumstances. Additionally, a vascular occlusion test was performed to test the ability of LSI to detect rapid changes in tissue perfusion during reactive hyperemia and a hyperthermic challenge was performed to measure LSI perfusion at maximum functional capillary density. Normalized LSI measurements (i.e., normalized to baseline is 100%) were shown to correlate positively with normalized SDF measurements (Pearson's r=0.92). This was supported by linear regression analysis (slope of 1.01, R(2)=0.85, p<0.001). During the vascular occlusion test, LSI perfusion decreased from 307+/-90 AU (baseline) to 42+/-8 AU (ischemia). Peak perfusion during reperfusion was 651+/-93 AU (212% of baseline), which had returned to baseline after 2 min. Hyperthermia increased LSI perfusion from 332+/-90 AU to 1067+/-256 AU (321% of baseline). The main finding was that changes in perfusion as measured by LSI correlated well with changes in capillary red blood cell velocities as measured by SDF imaging during controlled reduction of the (micro)vascular perfusion. It was further shown that LSI is capable of measuring tissue perfusion at high temporal and spatial resolution. In conclusion, LSI can be employed to accurately quantitate microvascular reactivity following ischemic and hyperthermic challenges.