ABSTRACT
The authors present a case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in 82-year-old man. Besides the onset of the disease in the elderly and short survival time (8 weeks), other uncommon clinical and morphological features also characterized our case. An evident amyotrophic syndrome, confirmed in morphological findings, developed soon after the CJD onset. The spongiform change also observed within the white matter of cerebral hemispheres allowed us to diagnose the 'panencephalopathic' form of CJD.
Subject(s)
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome/pathology , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Brain/pathology , Cell Count , Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome/classification , Disease Progression , Electroencephalography , Fatal Outcome , Gliosis/etiology , Gliosis/pathology , Humans , Male , Motor Neurons/pathology , Spinal Cord/pathology , Vacuoles/ultrastructureABSTRACT
The study included 55 patients (18 females, 37 males); aged 32-75 yr. who divided into three groups according to the severity of clinical picture: 12 people with reversible ischaemic stroke (RIS), 20 with progressive ischaemic stroke (PIS), 23 with complete stroke (CS). Levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoproteins (HDL), apolipoproteins A1 and B (ApoA1 and ApoB), fibrinogen (Fb) and Lp (a) were measured. Lipid factor of atherosclerosis (ATHi) was quantified. Qualitative evaluation of lipids contents in cerebrospinal fluid (CSR) was performed. Distribution of cholesterol--containing lipids among the fractions, despite low values, had clearly atherogenic profile. 12% patients with irreversible ischaemic stroke, 16% with progressive ischaemic stroke and 85% with complete stroke had Fb level above 4 g/l. Lp (a) levels in all cases were significantly higher in the cells isolated from CSF. The severity of the stroke correlated with increasing levels of lipids in the cells isolated from SF. There was correlation between LDL cholesterol and content of lipids in the cells from CSF.
Subject(s)
Brain Ischemia/etiology , Brain/blood supply , Fibrinogen/metabolism , Lipids/cerebrospinal fluid , Brain Ischemia/diagnosis , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Risk Assessment , Risk Factors , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
Clinical investigations on the case of a 61-year-old woman with a few year history of neurological symptoms, who underwent mastectomy caused by ductal carcinoma, 12 years prior to the appearance of the clinical syndrome did not reveal the cause of the disease. On the post-mortem examination solitary metastasis of adenocarcinoma to the retroperitoneal lymph node was present. Histologically, in the cerebellum the degeneration of the Purkinje cells with extensive Bergmann glia reaction was diagnosed. The authors discuss the connection between lesions of CNS and neoplastic disease.
