Bilateral Hypoglossal Nerve Palsy due to Brainstem Infarction: A Rare Presentation of Presumed Pyogenic Meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Cranial nerve palsies are well-known complications of basal meningitis, especially in patients with tuberculous meningitis. However, a minority of bacterial meningitis gets complicated with cranial nerve palsies. Although cerebral infarctions are known to occur with acute bacterial meningitis, infarctions occurring in the brainstem are infrequently described. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a 46-year-old healthy female who presented with dysarthria with fever, headache, and vomiting and was diagnosed to have acute pyogenic meningitis complicated with a brainstem infarction resulting in bilateral hypoglossal palsy. Her MRI revealed an infarction in the lower part of the medulla oblongata, probably involving the bilateral hypoglossal nuclei. CONCLUSION: Isolated bilateral hypoglossal nerve palsy is an extremely rare cranial nerve palsy, secondary to pyogenic meningitis. To our knowledge, this should be the first reported case of isolated bilateral hypoglossal nerve palsy due to a brainstem infarct in the background of pyogenic meningitis.

Tuberculous Pachymeningitis Presenting as a Diffused Dural Thickening in a Patient with Chronic Headache and Recurrent Neurological Abnormalities for More than a Decade: A Case Report and a Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculous pachymeningitis is a rare form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis usually suspected from the detection of thickening of the dura in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Progressive nature of the disease can lead to chronic headache with focal neurological signs due to compression from the thickened dura. CASE REPORT: We report a 40-year-old female who presented with chronic headache over a decade associated with recurrent neurological abnormalities including optic neuritis, hemisensory loss, migraine, facial nerve palsy, and recurrent vertigo. Although there was an initial perceived response to steroids, the patient had a subsequent progressive course. On investigations, she was found to have a diffused dural thickening on contrast MRI with a strongly positive Mantoux test with caseating necrotizing granulomatous inflammation on dural histology. With initiation of antituberculous medication with steroids, the patient markedly improved, and the medication for tuberculosis was continued for a year with good response. CONCLUSION: Primary tuberculous pachymeningitis should be suspected in a patient complaining of prolonged headache with focal neurological signs when MRI evidence of dural thickening is detected, and another focus of tuberculosis was not found. Prompt suspicion with image-guided dural biopsy for histology would help to confirm the diagnosis.

Cerebral vasculitis and lateral rectus palsy - two rare central nervous system complications of dengue fever: two case reports and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Dengue fever is a common mosquito-borne viral illness with a clinical spectrum ranging from a simple febrile illness to potentially life-threatening complications such as dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. Dengue infection can affect many organs, including the central nervous system. The neurological manifestations reported in dengue infections are meningitis, encephalitis, stroke, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the cases of two interesting patients with confirmed dengue infection who presented with complications of possible central nervous system vasculitis and cranial nerve palsy. The first patient was a 53-year-old previously healthy Singhalese woman who developed acute-onset slurring of speech and ataxia with altered sensorium 1 day after recovery from a critical period of dengue hemorrhagic fever. Subsequent investigations revealed evidence of encephalopathy with brainstem ischemic infarctions. Her clinical picture was compatible with central nervous system vasculitis. She was treated successfully with intravenous steroids and had a full functional recovery. The second patient was a middle-aged Singhalese woman who had otherwise uncomplicated dengue infection. She developed binocular diplopia on day 4 of fever. An ocular examination revealed a convergent squint in the left eye with lateral rectus palsy but no other neurological manifestation. CONCLUSIONS: Central nervous system vasculitis due to dengue infection is a very rare phenomenon, and to the best of our knowledge, only one case of central nervous system vasculitis has been reported to date, in a patient of pediatric age. Cranial nerve palsy related to dengue infection is also rare, and only a few cases of isolated abducens nerve palsy have been reported to date. The two cases described in this report illustrate the rare but important central nervous system manifestations of dengue fever and support the fact that the central nervous system is one of the important systems that can be affected in patients with dengue infection.