Drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy due to middle fossa meningoencephalocele in a child: A surgical case report.

BACKGROUND: Meningoencephalocele (ME) of the temporal lobe through a bone defect in the middle cranial fossa is a rare known cause of refractory temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). ME-induced drug-resistant TLE has been described in adults; however, its incidence in children is very rare. CASE REPORT: A 7-year-old girl presented at our hospital with brief episodes of impaired consciousness and enuresis. Initial brain MRI results were interpreted as normal. Her seizures could not be controlled even with multiple anti-seizure medications. She was diagnosed with drug-resistant TLE, which presented with prolonged impaired awareness seizures for 30-60 s and secondary bilateral tonic seizures. At 9 years of age, brain MRI revealed a left temporal anteroinferior ME with a congenital bone defect in the left middle cranial fossa. She was referred for presurgical epilepsy evaluation. Long-term video electroencephalography (EEG) failed to reveal regional abnormality in the left temporal lobe; invasive evaluation using stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) was thus indicated. Ictal onset SEEG was identified in the temporal pole near the ME which was rapidly propagated to the mesial temporal structures and other cortical regions. The left temporal pole including the ME was micro-surgically disconnected while preserving the hippocampus and amygdala. The patient's seizures have been completely controlled for 1 year and 6 months post-operatively. CONCLUSION: SEEG revealed rapid propagation of ictal activity in this patient's case, confirming that the ME was epileptogenic. Since the majority of patients with refractory epilepsy caused by ME have favorable postoperative seizure outcomes, it is important to carefully check for ME in drug-resistant TLE patients with apparently normal MRI.

Variant in the neuronal vesicular SNARE VAMP2 (synaptobrevin-2): First report in Japan.

BACKGROUND: A report presenting five heterozygous de novo variants in VAMP2 in unrelated individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by axial hypotonia, intellectual disability, and autistic features was first published in April 4, 2019. CASE REPORT: We report the case of a male child with VAMP2 variant who was delivered at 38 weeks and 4 days without neonatal asphyxia. At 4 months of age he showed hypotonia and no visual pursuit and fixation. He presented with infantile spasms at 6 months, and electroencephalography (EEG) showed hypsarrhythmia. His infantile spasms completely disappeared by adrenocorticotropic hormone therapy, but his EEG findings continued to show high voltage slow-waves with multi-focal spikes. At 2 years of age he was non-verbal, had an absence of purposeful hand movements, and no visual fixation. He had somnolence tendency in the daytime. Biochemical and extensive genetic examinations were unrevealed. Magnetic resonance imaging showed slight brain atrophy. At 2 years and 7 months of age, he suffered from myoclonic seizures of the eyelid and tongue, which propagated to unilateral fingers, and sometimes to the bilateral legs. At 8 years of age hyperkinetic movement occurred. At age 13, whole-exome sequence identified a heterozygous missense variant, NM_014232.2:c.199G>C,[p.(Ala67Pro)] in exon 3 of VAMP2 which was a de novo non-synonymous variant. CONCLUSION: This is the first case report of VAMP2 variant in Japan. Hypotonia at early infancy, poor visual fixation, and absence of purposeful hand movements may be indicative of the diagnosis for VAMP2 variant.

Brainstem infarction associated with HHV-6 infection in an infant.

INTRODUCTION: The relevant literature includes several case reports on cerebral infarction in children with HHV-6 infection; however, there is no report of brain stem infarction. CASE: An 11-month-old girl was hospitalized because of fever. She was unable to stand up and meet her mother's gaze. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indicated a right pons and mid-brain lesion; a diagnosis of brainstem infarction was made. After her fever subsided, a rash developed on her trunk and limbs; blood examination results indicated a primary HHV-6 infection. She was treated with aspirin, edaravone, and mannitol to prevent further complications. At the age of 18months, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) was unremarkable and she is developing well. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: A limited number of studies have reported HHV-6 infection-associated infarction, and no cases of brainstem infarction have been reported. One possible cause of cerebral infarction is antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) triggered by the infection. HHV-6 may also directly infect vascular endothelial cells and cause angiopathy. However, the real mechanism of infarction remains unclear. Our patient had a favorable prognosis despite brainstem infarction.

Enteral Nutrition Related Complications Relevant to Alteration of Formulas in Two Critically Ill Pediatric Patients.

The early institution of enteral nutrition is associated with beneficial outcomes and intestinal growth in pediatric patients. However, the number, frequency, and types of unfavorable events occurring with particular formulas are undefined. We experienced unexpected complications in two cases following a change in formula. One case diagnosed with myotubular myopathy experienced highly-increased gastric residuals and watery diarrhea leading to decreased calorie intake and weight loss. The second case with campomelic dysplasia suffered liver dysfunction and fever. In both cases, symptoms developed soon after of the change in formula and improved after resumption of the previous formula. Both cases had undergone tracheostomy and artificial ventilation, and had a history of feeding the same formula for an extended period of time. In chronic care patients such as ours, a change in formula may cause unexpected adverse events; therefore, caution is warranted.