Concurrency of Guillain-Barre syndrome and acute transverse myelitis: a case report and review of literature.

Guillain-Barré syndrome and acute transverse myelitis manifest as demyelinating diseases of the peripheral and central nervous system. Concurrency of these two disorders is rarely documented in literature. A 4-year-old girl presenting with cough, fever, and an impaired walking ability was admitted to hospital. She had no previous complaints in her medical history. A physical examination revealed lack of muscle strength of the lower extremities and deep tendon reflexes. MRI could not be carried out due to technical problems; therefore, both Guillain-Barré syndrome and acute transverse myelitis were considered for the diagnosis. Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment was started as first line therapy. Because this treatment did not relieve the patient's symptoms, spinal MRI was carried out on the fourth day of admission and demyelinating areas were identified. Based on the new findings, the patient was diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis, and high dose intravenous methylprednisolone therapy was started. Electromyography findings were consistent with acute polyneuropathy affecting both motor and sensory fibers. Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with concurrency of Guillain-Barré syndrome and acute transverse myelitis. Interestingly, while concurrency of these 2 disorders is rare, this association has been demonstrated in various recent publications. Progress in diagnostic tests (magnetic resonance imaging and electrophysiological examination studies) has enabled clinicians to establish the right diagnosis. The possibility of concurrent Guillain-Barré syndrome and acute transverse myelitis should be considered if recovery takes longer than anticipated.

Perioperative evaluation for the patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, that has been more frequently diagnosed lately and whose importance has been gradually understood better, is a widespread health problem. This syndrome has been accompanied by obesity frequently. In the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, it has been known that hypoxia and sometimes hypercarbia additionally has been observed, nevertheless cardiovascular problems have been observed more frequently in the aforementioned patient group in comparison with other individuals. Anesthetic substituents applied during the invasive operations and some medicine used for analgesia may cause the increase of the aforesaid hypoxia and cardiovascular problems in the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Nowadays, with the improvements in accessing to health agencies and consequently with the increase in the number of surgical applications, this review has been prepared with the thought of helping to clinicians about the approach and the pre-anesthetic and post-anesthetic precautions required to be taken within the mentioned patient group.

Elevated serum S-100B levels in children with temporal lobe epilepsy.

PURPOSE: An elevated level of S-100B in serum is generally considered to be a biochemical marker of nervous tissue damage. According to our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the serum S-100B protein concentration in children with temporal lobe epilepsy. The objective of this study was to measure the serum levels of S-100B protein in pediatric cases with temporal epilepsy. METHODS: This case-controlled cross-sectional study was performed at the Department of Pediatric Neurology, Harran University School of Medicine, Sanliurfa, in Turkey. Serum S-100B protein levels were studied in 19 (12 females, 7 males) children with temporal lobe epilepsy and in 25 (15 females, 10 males) healthy control subjects. Serum samples were collected within 30min after a complex partial seizure, and serum S-100B protein levels were measured with an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay for the quantification of protein (ECLIA kit, Roche(®) Diagnostics, Germany). RESULTS: The mean serum concentration of S-100B protein was 0.12±0.02µg/L in the temporal lobe epilepsy group and 0.07±0.01µg/L in the control group. The patients showed significantly elevated S-100B protein levels compared with healthy controls (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that increased S-100B protein levels in the serum might reflect neuronal damage in the brains of children with temporal lobe epilepsy. These results do confirm the previous findings of elevated S-100B protein levels in adult patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Global aphasia due to left thalamic hemorrhage.

Global aphasia is an acquired language disorder characterized by severe impairments in all modalities of language. The specific sites of injury commonly include Wernike's and Broca's areas and result from large strokes--particularly those involving the internal carotid or middle cerebral arteries. Rarely, deep subcortical lesions may cause global aphasia. We present three cases with global aphasia due to a more rare cause: left thalamic hemorrhage. Their common feature was the large size of the hemorrhage and its extension to the third ventricule. HMPAO-SPECT in one of the cases revealed ipsilateral subcortical, frontotemporal cortical and right frontal cortical hypoperfusion. Left thalamic hemorrhage should be considered in the differential diagnosis of global aphasia.