[Hydrocephalic and/or degenerative dementia]. / Démence hydrocéphalique et/ou dégénérative.

The authors report ten cases of progressive dementia. Nine are associated with gait disturbances and seven with urinary incontinence. Despite the severity of dementia and Ct Scan signs of cortical atrophy, magnitude of neuroradiological ventricular dilatation and ventricular reflux at isotopic cisternography lead to shunt therapy. After ventricular shunting of CSF, a follow-up at short and long terms shows different clinical evolutions: two transitory improvements, three cases without change and five worsening. Retrospective clinical study of these cases in which diagnosis leads to a degenerative process of the Alzheimer type shows atypical premorbid neuropsychological characteristics by a normal-pressure hydrocephalus. In fact, in the ten cases preoperative neuropsychological investigation shows, at various levels, aphasic, alexic and agraphic signs. Their occurrence in the clinical picture represents an essential contribution to differential diagnosis.

Late occurrence of additional ocular and intracranial pathologies in the linear naevus sebaceous (Feuerstein-Mims) syndrome.

The linear naevus sebaceous syndrome of Feuerstein-Mims belongs to the phacomatoses and classically is composed of a linear cutaneous lesion associated with mental retardation and epilepsy, sometimes also with ocular dystrophies. During an unusually long follow-up of 32 years of such a case, which is reported here, the late occurrence of additional ocular and intracranial pathology are demonstrated: conjunctival and bulbar tumours with progressive deterioration of visual acuity, bilateral intracranial arachnoidal cysts, dilatation and tortuosity of the middle cerebral artery. As a consequence of these observations the prognosis in cases with this syndrome has to be given with special caution.

Neurogenic stuttering.

According to reports in the literature and our own observations, which are reported in this paper, acquired stuttering may occur in conjunction with focal or diffuse damage to the central nervous system. When the lesion is focal, it may be in the right or in the left hemisphere. When the left hemisphere is injured, acquired stuttering may be concomitant with aphasia. Indeed, in some cases the stutter-like repetitions appear to be an integral part of the aphasic syndrome. In other cases, on the contrary, the two disorders seem to be relatively independent of one another. Occasionally, stuttering is the only observable disorder in the linguistic-cognitive sphere.

[Post-traumatic conversion hysteria. A case report of hysterical paraplegia (author's transl)]. / L'hystérie de conversion post-traumatique. A propos d'un cas de paraplégie hystérique.

The authors report a case of hysterical paraplegia occurring two days after a craniovertebral trauma. They describe the patient's evolution on psychological, neurological and physical therapy grounds. They also discuss the concept of traumatic neurosis with regard to definition, characteristics, classification and its boundaries in relation to the subjective central post-traumatic syndrome. They also study the definition, frequency, limits and course of conversion hysteria with special emphasis on hysterical paralysis and its characteristics.

Inferior red nucleus syndrome (Benedikt's syndrome) due to a single intramesencephalic metastasis from a prostatic carcinoma. Case report.

The authors describe a case of inferior red nucleus syndrome due to a solitary intramesencephalic metastasis from a glandular epithelioma of the prostate. They emphasize the rarity of cerebral metastases of prostatic origin, particularly at the level of the brain stem, and the exceptional features of a red nucleus syndrome originating from a tumour.

[Subacute myoclonic encephalopathy in diabetes. Clinico-pathological correlation]. / Encéphalopathie myoclonique d'évolution subaiguë chez le diabétique. Corrélation anatomoclinique.

A 59 years old diabetic man suffered from a rapid central neurological syndrome of unknown aetiology. He died after a nine weeks clinical course. Post-mortem examination showed widespread cortical micro infarcts with diabetic specific arteriolar lesions. This unusual manifestation in the clinical course of the diabetes is discussed in the light of data from the literature.

[Hydrocephalus due to a large aneurysm in the basilar artery (author's transl)]. / Hydrocéphalie provoquée par un anévrysme géant de l'artère basilaire.

In the light of the literature the authors discuss the case of a 66 year-old hypertensive patient presenting headaches, disorders of gait and deglutition, dysphonia and urinary incontinence. A CAT scan showed dilatation of the entire ventricular system. Anatomo- pathological investigation showed a voluminous bisaccular aneurysmal malformation in the basilar artery. By deforming the pons and the medulla oblongata, the aneurysm had compressed the fourth ventricle and cerebral aqueduct, thus causing hydrocephalus. (Acta neurol. belg., 1980, 80, 80-85).

[Multicentric gliomas. Report of a case (author's transl)]. / Les gliomes multicentriques. A propos d'une observation.

The criteria of culticentric gliomas, based upon histological data, were recently defined (Bartzdorf et al. 1963) and permits us to distinguish them clearly from multiple gliomas. The authors report an atypical case of glioma for which the diagnosis of multicentric gliomas has been established after anatomical and histological studies. Physiopathological hypotheses are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the clinical pictures, diagnostic techniques as well as evolution and therapeutic aspects.

CT scanning for the diagnosis of the cerebrellar and spinal lesions of von Hippel-Lindau's disease.

The CT features of cerebellar lesions with von Hippel-Lindau's disease are analyzed. The use of CT scanning for associated spinal hemangioblastomas is discussed in the light of a case with a low cervical lesion. The role of computed tomography in the neuroradiological investigations is discussed.

[Angiomas of the epidural space (author's transl)]. / Angiomes de l'espace épidural

The authors describe two cases of angiomas strictly limited to the spinal epidural space. They review the literature and stress the rarity of these tumours.