Chorea and contraceptives: case report with pet study and review of the literature.

Chorea is a well-recognized but rare complication of oral contraceptive use. A 27-year-old woman developed right hemichorea while taking an oral contraceptive (OC). No other causes of chorea were found. A positron emission tomography (PET) study with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose demonstrated a dense focus of increased glucose metabolism involving the body of the left caudate nucleus. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a PET study in a patient with OC-induced chorea in the absence of systemic lupus erythematosus or antiphospholipid antibodies.

Intrathecal treatment of neoplastic meningitis due to breast cancer with a slow-release formulation of cytarabine.

DepoCyte is a slow-release formulation of cytarabine designed for intrathecal administration. The goal of this multi-centre cohort study was to determine the safety and efficacy of DepoCyte for the intrathecal treatment of neoplastic meningitis due to breast cancer. DepoCyte 50 mg was injected once every 2 weeks for one month of induction therapy; responding patients were treated with an additional 3 months of consolidation therapy. All patients had metastatic breast cancer and a positive CSF cytology or neurologic findings characteristic of neoplastic meningitis. The median number of DepoCyte doses was 3, and 85% of patients completed the planned 1 month induction. Median follow up is currently 19 months. The primary endpoint was response, defined as conversion of the CSF cytology from positive to negative at all sites known to be positive, and the absence of neurologic progression at the time the cytologic conversion was documented. The response rate among the 43 evaluable patients was 28% (CI 95%: 14-41%); the intent-to-treat response rate was 21% (CI 95%: 12-34%). Median time to neurologic progression was 49 days (range 1-515(+)); median survival was 88 days (range 1-515(+)), and 1 year survival is projected to be 19%. The major adverse events were headache and arachnoiditis. When drug-related, these were largely of low grade, transient and reversible. Headache occurred on 11% of cycles; 90% were grade 1 or 2. Arachnoiditis occurred on 19% of cycles; 88% were grade 1 or 2. DepoCyte demonstrated activity in neoplastic meningitis due to breast cancer that is comparable to results reported with conventional intrathecal agents. However, this activity was achieved with one fourth as many intrathecal injections as typically required in conventional therapy. The every 2 week dose schedule is a major advantage for both patients and physicians.

Craniocephalic disproportion with increased intracranial pressure and brain herniation: a new clinical syndrome in anemic patients: report of two cases.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: We describe a new clinical syndrome in two patients with chronic anemia. The major manifestation of the syndrome is herniation of the brain resulting in death caused by longstanding craniocephalic disproportion. The disproportion was caused by extreme thickening of the cranium because of erythroid hyperplasia. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: Two patients with known chronic anemia presented with chronic increase in intracranial pressure with acute deterioration resulting in brain herniation. INTERVENTION: Despite maximum medical therapy, both patients died as a result of uncontrollable increase in intracranial pressure. CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic anemia presenting with progressive headaches should be monitored for this newly described clinical phenomenon.

Metamorphopsia and palinopsia. Association with periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges in a patient with malignant astrocytoma.

A patient with a right parietal glioma developed palinopsia and various forms of metamorphopsia that were temporally related to the electrographic presence of periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges. These symptoms occurred in an alert woman with normal visual fields. The literature shows that epileptic events can produce these symptoms. We believe that continuous repetitive electrical stimulation caused our patient's unusual symptoms by altering the association pathways through which visual data are experienced. To our knowledge, the association between periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges and metamorphopsia or palinopsia has heretofore not been reported.

Superselective arterial BCNU infusion in the treatment of patients with malignant gliomas.

Retinal and CNS toxicity have been reported with infraophthalmic infusion of BCNU in the treatment of patients with malignant gliomas. It is known, however, that the CNS toxicity can be reduced if the BCNU is dissolved in dextrose in water. This article describes the results from 15 patients who received 42 courses of BCNU administered by supraophthalmic internal carotid, middle cerebral, or posterior cerebral artery infusions. None of the patients developed leukoencephalopathy as demonstrated by CT scanning. The average reduction in tumor volume was 36%, and the median survival time from the date of diagnosis was 73 weeks. These values are comparable to those of a previous group of 20 patients treated with infraophthalmic infusions, with the exception that none of the patients in the present group developed retinal damage.

Interstitial iridium-192 implantation for malignant brain tumours. Part II: Clinical experience.

The treatment results of 37 patients with malignant brain neoplasms treated with a computed-tomography-guided stereotactic iridium-192 implant are reviewed. Of these, 29 patients with high-grade gliomas (20 with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), nine with anaplastic astrocytoma (AA] received an implant as part of their initial management. The median survival was 14.5 and 15.5 months in the patients with previously untreated GBM and AA, respectively. In those patients with recurrent tumour after external-beam irradiation, durable local control over a year was achieved with implantation. Increasing the total tumour dose from 120 to 160 Gy did not improve survival or local control. Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) was used as an indicator of quality of life and was seen to decrease with a median interval of 8.5 months following treatment. No severe complications were noted in the entire group of patients treated with this implant procedure.

Interstitial iridium-192 implantation for malignant brain tumours. Part I: Techniques of dosimetry planning.

Interstitial implants for brain tumours with removable iridium-192 radioactive seeds have been performed using a Brown-Roberts-Wells stereotactic frame. A simple and accurate computed-tomography-guided dosimetry pre-planning technique and procedure prior to implant have been developed and are discussed.

Brachytherapy in the treatment of recurrent solitary brain metastases.

Conventional therapy for solitary brain metastases includes radiotherapy and surgical resection in selected cases. Often, however, the metastasis recurs and limits the quality of life and survival of the patient. Once the metastasis recurs, therapeutic options are limited. Brachytherapy delivers a high total dose of radiation to a localized area, allowing reirradiation at the time of recurrence. Three patients with recurrent brain metastases treated with iridium-192 implants are presented; two of these patients had breast carcinoma and one had malignant melanoma. The implants allowed long term survival in the two patients with recurrent metastatic breast carcinoma. Unfortunately, the patient with melanoma did not respond to the brachytherapy and died within 7 months of implantation. The approaches to treatment to metastatic brain tumors and the rationale for using brachytherapy are discussed.

Treatment of esthesioneuroblastoma with chemotherapy: a report of two cases.

Esthesioneuroblastoma is an uncommon tumor arising from the olfactory epithelium within the nasopharynx. Conventional treatment consists of surgical resection and irradiation. The use of chemotherapy in limited responses has been reported using cyclophosphamide, thio-TEPA, nitrogen mustard, vincristine, doxorubicin, and chlorambucil as single drugs or in various combinations. Two cases are presented in which neurologic involvement prompted the application of intraventricular methotrexate by an implantable constant infusion drug delivery system in one patient and intra-arterial cis-platinum in combination with intravenous 5-fluorocytosine in a second patient. The tumor of the first patient responded to irradiation followed by methotrexate for four years. The second patient experienced a brief response to the combined chemotherapy following surgery for a recurrent esthesioneuroblastoma. A brief review of the literature regarding chemotherapy and the aggressive form of esthesioneuroblastoma is presented.

Patterns of recurrence in glioma patients after interstitial irradiation and chemotherapy: report of three cases.

Three patients with malignant gliomas who developed dissemination of tumor at the time of recurrence are presented. All three patients received combination therapy including conventional radiotherapy and interstitial radiation therapy followed by systemic BCNU chemotherapy. A review of the literature on the development of glioma metastases and an analysis of the possible mechanisms of this uncommon growth pattern are presented.

Selective delivery of chemotherapeutic agents with a new catheter system.

A new catheter system was used in ten patients (16 infusions) for infusion of chemotherapeutic agents to the sites of malignant gliomas. Thirteen infusions to the supraophthalmic region were successful, as were three infusions to the posterior cerebral region. There were no complications after the infusions. A neurologic complication occurred in one patient in whom two successful supraophthalmic infusions were previously carried out. In this patient the guide wire separated during catheter placement into the posterior cerebral artery.