No abstract available.
Humans ; Positive-Pressure Respiration*

No abstract available.
Electrodiagnosis ; Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis ; Neural Conduction* ; Paralysis* ; Thyrotoxicosis

No abstract available.
Eosinophils* ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A* ; Polymyositis*

The adverse effects of systemic steroid medications are well known, whereas those of local steroid injections are unclear even to clinicians. We report two cases of localized lipoatrophy and depigmentation following local steroid injection. Although the incidence of soft tissue atrophy after local steroid injection is rare, it will increase in proportion to the frequency of the procedure. All clinicians, even those who do not perform steroid injections, should be aware of the occurrence of this cosmetically disturbing adverse effect.
Atrophy ; Incidence ; Triamcinolone

Brachial radiculoplexitis is characterized by acute onset of shoulder and arm pain followed by weakness and sensory loss. Brachial radiculoplexitis by herpes zoster is a rare disease, which can be diagnosed by careful history, electrodiagnosis and MRI. It has remained uncertain about clinical characteristics, treatment, and prognosis. Better understanding of this disease helps earlier diagnosis and prompt treatment to minimize neurologic sequale. We present two cases of subacute brachial radiculoplexitis preceded by herpes zoster infection.
Arm ; Brachial Plexus Neuropathies ; Diagnosis ; Electrodiagnosis ; Herpes Zoster* ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Prognosis ; Rare Diseases ; Shoulder

A 59-year old man was admitted for drowsiness and stiff neck. CSF examination showed lymphocytic pleocytosis and PCR for herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 was positive in CSF. Brain MRI revealed enhanced lesions in left temporal lobe. His symptom improved with acyclovir. Follow-up studies showed red blood cells in CSF and a hematoma in the left temporal lobe. There was no additional symptom related to the hematoma. He was discharged after conservative care. Although rare, hematoma can develop in HSV-1 meningoencephalitis.
Acyclovir ; Brain ; Encephalitis, Herpes Simplex* ; Erythrocytes ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma* ; Herpes Simplex* ; Herpesvirus 1, Human ; Leukocytosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Meningoencephalitis ; Neck ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Simplexvirus ; Sleep Stages ; Temporal Lobe

Syncopes are the most common non-epileptic attacks mimicking epileptic seizures. Among them, cardiogenic syncope is potentially life threatening. A 49 year old man was refered for the recurrent episodes of loss of consciousness with tonic posture and upward eyes deviation. The electrocardiogram showed polymorphologic ventricular tachycardia during attacks, which normalized after that. He was treated with isoproterenol and symptoms subsided. Here, we report a case of ventricular tachycardia manifested as epileptic seizures.
Electrocardiography ; Epilepsy* ; Isoproterenol ; Posture ; Seizures ; Syncope ; Tachycardia, Ventricular* ; Unconsciousness

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS) is a rare congenital malformation syndrome involving blood and lymph vessels, which is characterized by triad of cutaneous hemangioma, venous varicosities, and overgrowth of the affected limbs. Because vascular malformation in KTS can be located anywhere except the face and brain, the clinical presentation could be extremely variable. But there are only rare case reports that KTS is associated with spinal cord lesion. We report a case of recurrent myelopathy in a patient with KTS.
Brain ; Extremities ; Hemangioma ; Humans ; Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome* ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Diseases* ; Vascular Malformations

A 69-year-old woman presented with a progressive limb weakness. Both clinical and neurophysiological findings were consistent with diagnosis of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). Two days after admission, the patient suffered from an acute coronary syndrome without stenosis at coronary arteriography. Echocardiography revealed left ventricular inferior wall and apical akinesia and decreased ejection fraction. A diagnosis of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy was then made. Left ventricular dysfunction and electrocardiography normalized within one month. Takotsubo cardiomyopathy can be developed as a complication of GBS.
Acute Coronary Syndrome ; Aged ; Angiography ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Extremities ; Female ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome* ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy* ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left

BACKGROUND: The effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) on cerebral vessels have not been clarified until now. Thus we investigated the efficacy of omega-3 PUFAs supplementation on cerebral blood flow velocity and vascular resistance via transcranial doppler (TCD). METHODS: Consecutive twenty patients (13 male and 7 female) with at least 1 cerebrovascular risk factor or a known cerebrovascular disease were enrolled. Patients were treated with omega-3 PUFAs (1 g, two times per day) for 12 weeks. Cerebral blood flow velocity, resistance index, and pulsatile index were checked before and after 12 weeks of treatment using TCD. RESULTS: The change of resistance index in right MCA (from 0.58 +/- 0.07 to 0.55 +/- 0.07, p = 0.042) and left PCA (from 0.56 +/- 0.07 to 0.53 +/- 0.06, p = 0.037) showed significant improvement after 12 weeks of omega-3 PUFAs treatment. The changes in other vessels, however, failed to show any significant changes compared to the baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Omega-3 PUFAs treatment showed feasible efficacies for cerebral vascular resistances in this open label trial. To confirm these results, larger samples of patients and longer period of follow-up is warranted.
Blood Flow Velocity ; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Passive Cutaneous Anaphylaxis ; Risk Factors ; Vascular Resistance*