1.Charles Bonnet syndrome following head trauma: a case report and literature review
Georgia WONG ; Josef D. WILLIAMS ; Uchenna OSUALA ; Jean-Paul BRYANT ; Nathan NAIR
Journal of Neurocritical Care 2024;17(1):29-33
Background:
Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) is a condition characterized by vivid, complex visual hallucinations in individuals with visual impairment. Despite its prevalence among the elderly and those with degenerative eye diseases, CBS remains underdiagnosed and undertreated due to a lack of awareness and misconceptions surrounding its etiology and management.Case Report: A 51-year-old man presented to the emergency room after falling off his bicycle without wearing a helmet. Head imaging revealed a small right frontoparietal traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage with an associated trace subdural hematoma along the right parietal convexity. Subsequently, he developed non-light perceiving vision loss, after which he began experiencing visual hallucinations.
Conclusion
CBS is frequently overlooked or left untreated. Research on diagnosing and managing CBS following head trauma is limited. Therefore, clear diagnostic criteria for CBS and a better understanding of its underlying mechanisms are needed to improve diagnosis and management strategies.
2.Evidence of Lung Function for Stratification of Cardiovascular Disease Risk.
Hwa Mu LEE ; Steven T TRUONG ; Nathan D WONG
Korean Circulation Journal 2011;41(4):171-174
Among adults in the United States, the prevalence of reduced lung function including obstructive and restrictive lung disease is about 20%, representing an over 40 million adults. Persons with reduced lung function often demonstrate chronic systemic inflammation, such as from elevated levels of C-reactive protein. Substantial data suggests that inflammation may have a significant role in the association between reduced lung function and cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, how reduced lung function predicts CVD as risk modification remains largely unknown. Poor lung function has been shown to be a better predictor of all-cause and cardiac-specific mortality than established risk factors such as serum cholesterol, and CVD is the leading cause of mortality among those with impaired lung function. The exact mechanism of atherosclerosis is not clear, but persistent low grade inflammation is considered as one of the culprits in clot formation. The initial presentation of coronary heart disease is either myocardial infarction or sudden death in approximately half of the individuals. Unfortunately, conventional risk factor assessment predicts only 65-80% of future cardiovascular events, leaving many middle-aged and older individuals to manifest a major cardiovascular event despite being classified low risk by the Framingham risk estimates.
Adult
;
Atherosclerosis
;
C-Reactive Protein
;
Cardiovascular Diseases
;
Cholesterol
;
Coronary Disease
;
Death, Sudden
;
Humans
;
Inflammation
;
Lung
;
Lung Diseases
;
Myocardial Infarction
;
Prevalence
;
Respiratory Function Tests
;
Risk Factors
;
United States