Acute cerebellitis in adults: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Acute cerebellitis is a rare disease with the majority of cases described in children. Little is known about the clinical characteristics and outcome in adults. CASE PRESENTATION: A 37-year-old Caucasian woman presented with headache, nausea, and photophobia, and was diagnosed as having a migraine attack. Two days later, she subsequently returned with aggravated headache, dysarthria and horizontal nystagmus. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a swollen cerebellum and hydrocephalus and the patient was diagnosed with acute cerebellitis. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination showed an elevated leukocyte count and protein. Blood serology showed the presence of immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G for both Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus. The patient was treated with dexamethasone and discharged to a rehabilitation center, where she fully recovered. We searched the literature for adult cases of acute cerebellitis. Including our patient, we identified 35 patients with a median age of 36 years. The etiology was unknown in 34% of cases. The most common clinical presentation consisted of headache, nausea/vomiting and ataxia. Six patients presented with only headache and nausea and subsequently returned with cerebellar signs. In 9 cases, the cerebellitis was complicated by hydrocephalus. Half of the patients ended up with neurological sequelae, while follow-up MRI was abnormal in 71%. CONCLUSION: Acute cerebellitis in adults is a rare disorder which mainly presents with headache, nausea/vomiting and ataxia. To diagnose cerebellitis, imaging of the brain (preferably MRI) is required and CSF examination may be necessary to narrow the differential diagnosis. The treatment depends on the widely diverse etiology, and treatment with steroids is recommended in the case of cerebellar oedema and hydrocephalus. Neurosurgical intervention may be necessary to prevent brain herniation.

Early-life antibiotic use and subsequent diagnosis of food allergy and allergic diseases.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic use in early life has been linked to disruptions in the microbiome. Such changes can disturb immune system development. Differences have been observed in the microbiota of children with and without allergies, but there have been few studies on antibiotic use and allergic disease. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated associations of early-life antibiotic use with subsequent occurrence of food allergy and other allergies in childhood using electronic health record data. METHODS: We used longitudinal data on 30 060 children up to age 7 years from Geisinger Clinic's electronic health record to conduct a sex- and age-matched case-control study to evaluate the association between antibiotic use and milk allergy, non-milk food allergies, and other allergies. For each outcome, we estimated conditional logistic regression models adjusting for race/ethnicity, history of Medical Assistance, and mode of birth delivery. Models were repeated separately for penicillins, cephalosporins and macrolides. RESULTS: There were 484 milk allergy cases, 598 non-milk food allergy cases and 3652 other allergy cases. Children with three or more antibiotic orders had a greater odds of milk allergy (Odds Ratio; 95% Confidence interval) (1.78; 1.28-2.48), non-milk food allergy (1.65; 1.27-2.14), and other allergies (3.07; 2.72-3.46) compared with children with no antibiotic orders. Associations were strongest at younger ages and differed by antibiotic class. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: We observed associations between antibiotic orders and allergic diseases, providing evidence of a potentially modifiable clinical practice associated with paediatric allergic disease. Differences by antibiotic class should be further explored, as this knowledge could inform paediatric treatment decisions.

The effect of cimetidine or omeprazole on the pharmacokinetics of escitalopram in healthy subjects.

AIMS: To investigate the effects of co-administration of cimetidine or omeprazole on the pharmacokinetics of escitalopram. METHODS: Two randomized placebo-controlled crossover studies were carried out. Sixteen healthy subjects were administered placebo, or cimetidine (400 mg twice daily) for 5 days (study 1) or omeprazole (30 mg once daily) for 6 days (study 2). On day 4 (study 1) or day 5 (study 2), a single dose of escitalopram (20 mg) was administered. Blood samples were taken at predetermined times for the measurement of serum concentrations of escitalopram and its demethylated metabolite (S-DCT). Treatment-emergent adverse events were also monitored. RESULTS: Co-administration with cimetidine caused a moderate increase in the systemic exposure [AUC0, infinity] to escitalopram (geometric mean ratio = 1.72, [95% CI 1.34, 2.21]) and a small increase in t(1/2) from 23.7 to 29.0 h (5.24 h [3.75, 6.70]). Co-administration with omeprazole also resulted in a moderate increase in the escitalopram AUC(0, infinity) (1.51 [1.39, 1.64]) and a small increase in t(1/2) from 26.5 to 34.8 h (8.3 h [6.44, 10.2]). There was no significant change in S-DCT AUC0, infinity after co-administration of either cimetidine or omeprazole. Co-administration of cimetidine or omeprazole had no effect on the incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the good tolerability of escitalopram, the pharmacokinetic changes observed on co-administration with cimetidine or omeprazole are unlikely to be of clinical concern.