Increased brain cortical thickness associated with visceral fat in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: There has been a growing amount of evidence indicating that excess visceral fat is associated with alterations in brain structure and function, including brain cortical thinning in adults. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the relationship between brain cortical thickness with obesity assessments, in adolescents. METHODS: In this study, we measured three different obesity assessments within an adolescent population (aged 15 - 18 years): body mass index (BMI), visceral fat ratio measured with an MRI and hepatorenal gradient measured with an ultrasound. Volunteers also underwent an MRI scan to measure brain structure. RESULTS: Results indicated that there was no relationship of BMI or hepatorenal gradient with brain cortical dimensions. However, there was a significant association between visceral fat ratio and an increase of cortical thickness throughout the brain. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that visceral fat, but not BMI, is correlated with cortical thickening in adolescence.

PRES with asymptomatic spinal cord involvement. Is this scenario more common than we know?

INTRODUCTION: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is an entity characterized by neurologic symptoms such as headaches, altered mental status, seizures and visual changes, and it is associated with white matter vasogenic edema predominantly affecting the posterior occipital and parietal lobes of the brain. CASE REPORT: A 19-year-old patient developed PRES after the use of chemotherapy for a testicular teratocarcinoma and after the development of a blood pressure elevation. DISCUSSION: Few cases described the involvement of the spinal cord in this syndrome. In the majority of these cases, the spinal cord involvement was asymptomatic or with few symptoms of spinal cord disease.