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Query: UMLS:C0004134 (ataxia)
 15,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The term "papilledema" describes optic disc swelling resulting from increased intracranial pressure. A complete history and direct funduscopic examination of the optic nerve head and adjacent vessels are necessary to differentiate papilledema from optic disc swelling due to other conditions. Signs of optic disc swelling include elevation and blurring of the disc and its margins, venous congestion, and retinal hard exudates, splinter hemorrhages and infarcts. Patients with papilledema usually present with signs or symptoms of elevated intracranial pressure, such as headache, nausea, vomiting, diplopia, ataxia or altered consciousness. Causes of papilledema include intracranial tumors, idiopathic intracranial hypertension (pseudotumor cerebri), subarachnoid hemorrhage, subdural hematoma and intracranial inflammation. Optic disc edema may also occur from many conditions other than papilledema, including central retinal artery or vein occlusion, congenital structural anomalies and optic neuritis.
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PMID:Papilledema: clinical clues and differential diagnosis. 154 98

We studied the clinical records of 18 patients (11 female and 7 male), from 42-83 years old (average 66.1) who were operated for Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. The etiology was idiopathic in 9 (50%), post-subarachnoid hemorrhage in 6 patients (33.3%), post-cerebral trauma in 2 (11.1%) and post-meningitis in 1. The patients were divided in 4 categories according to their symptoms, as follows: Group A: 9 patients (50%) with dementia, ataxia and incontinence. Group B: 1 patient (5.6%) with dementia-ataxia. Group C: 4 patients (22.2%) with ataxia and incontinence. Group D: 4 patients (22.2%) with ataxia only. 6 patients had a ventriculo peritoneal shunt, and 12 had a ventriculo-atrial shunt placed. All received a Hakim valve of low, medium or high pressure, according to the pre-op ventricular pressure. According to Stein and Langfitt scale for recovery 12 patients (66%) improved and 6 (33.3%) did not change. None was worse. There were no complications.
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PMID:[Normal pressure hydrocephalus]. 176 37

24 cases of AVMs posterior cranial fossa are reported. All these cases were confirmed by pathological examination or vertebral angiogram. There are 17 cases located in cerebellar hemisphere, 4 in vermis, 2 spread to brain stem, and 1 in fourth ventricle. Most of these patients are young adults, the mean age below 40 years. The most clinical manifestations were acute subarachnoid hemorrhage, increased intracranial pressure, ataxia, and cranial nerves palsy. 22 cases underwent surgical intervention, with 17 total, 3 subtotal, 2 partial resection of AVMs. After operation, 16 cases were good recovery, 3 free of symptom, and 3 death. In this article, the evaluation of some special clinical examinations and the operative approach for AVMs were discussed.
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PMID:[Posterior cranial fossa arteriovenous malformations]. 181 50

The authors report their surgical experience with 15 cases of arteriovenous malformations in children operated on in the last decade. Subarachnoid hemorrhage was the main clinical manifestation in 12 patients. Epilepsy was a secondary feature in 3 of these. Cortical areas were involved in 7 cases while the other 8 had the malformation in medial or deep structures of the brain. No mortality occurred from surgery. A radical excision was achieved in 12 cases, while in 3 cases remnants of the lesion were shown by postoperative angiography. Nine patients recovered from surgery without neurological impairment. Two children with left-sided arteriovenous malformations showed mild speech disturbances and 2 others with midline lesions suffered from hypotonus and ataxia.
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PMID:Surgical experience with arteriovenous malformations in children. 365 66

Irrigation of the subarachnoid space after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has been reported to alleviate subsequent arterial vasospasm. The authors have investigated the effect of lavage of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) space in the two-hemorrhage canine model of vasospasm. Twelve dogs had basilar cistern lavage with 120 cc of artificial CSF 24 hours after each of two SAH's, and 12 control dogs had two sequential SAH's without intervening lavage of clot. The amount of clot on the ventral brain stem was evaluated at sacrifice and was graded from 0 (no clot) to 4 (maximum clot) to assess the adequacy of clot removal. Dogs that had undergone lavage had a median grade of 1 (range Grade 0 to 2); control dogs had a median grade of 2 (range Grade 1 to 3.5, p less than 0.001. Wilcoxon rank sum test), indicating significant reduction of gross clot by lavage. The neurological findings were graded from 0 to 5, based on meningismus, ataxia, paresis, and cranial nerve deficits. No significant differences in neurological grade were found on any day between the two groups. Satisfactory angiograms were obtained before and 7 days after hemorrhage and were controlled for blood pressure and blood gases; these showed significant spasm in both groups. There was a mean reduction (+/- standard deviation) of 21.6% +/- 16.2% in basilar artery diameter in control dogs, compared to a 28.8% +/- 15.1% reduction in dogs with lavage (difference not significant, t-test). There was a strong, but insignificant, trend toward reduction of endothelial desquamation in the basilar and middle cerebral arteries in dogs with lavage compared to control animals (p = 0.06). Corrugation and tearing of the elastica, thickened intima, intimal fibroplasia, vacuolization of the endothelial or smooth-muscle cells, and presence of blood cells in the adventitia occurred similarly in both groups. It appears that cisternal lavage 24 hours after hemorrhage in this model has no effect on the angiographic, neurological, or most morphological sequelae of SAH, in spite of evidence for removal of clot as seen at sacrifice. Any postulated interaction of clot and vessel resulting in chronic vasospasm must occur before this time. Evaluation of the effect of much earlier lavage (for instance, 1 hour after hemorrhage) may elucidate the point at which vasospasm is instigated after SAH, and help in determining what factors cause vasospasm.
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PMID:Delayed CSF lavage for arteriographic and morphological vasospasm after experimental SAH. 405 8

A term of 'disproportionately large, communicating fourth ventricle' (DLCFV) was first proposed by in Harwood-Nash in 1980. It is somewhat different from the well known clinical entity of 'isolated or trapped fourth ventricle', because of apparent patency of aqueductal canal. Two cases of typical DLCFV encountered in our clinic were described. First patient was a 24 year old man in whom this condition developed following operations for lumber disc and second patient was 22 year old woman in whom the disease developed after subarachnoid hemorrhage. In both cases, main symptoms were attributable to hydrocephalus but three posterior fossa symptoms, nystagmus, Parinaud' sign and truncal ataxia were also characteristic. On the CT scan, the fourth ventricle was extraordinarily enlarged. Patency of the aqueductal canal was demonstrated by air study or Conray and Metrizamide ventriculography. On the other hand, occlusion was demonstrated or highly suspected in or near the foramina Magendie and Luschka. After a routine ventriculo-peritoneal shunt operation, the fourth ventricle decreased in size and the symptoms were immediately relieved. Plausible explanation for mechanism involved in occurrence of DLCFV were (1) occlusion process in or near the fourth ventricle outlets seems to be crucial in this pathologic condition. Collision of CSF pulse waves against the obstruction may yield a water hammer effect on the fourth ventricle. (2) abnormal weakness of the brain stem parenchyma around the fourth ventricle to CSF pressure may be another contributory factor.
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PMID:[Disproportionately large communicating fourth ventricle--report of 2 cases]. 660 22

Dolichoectasia of intracranial arteries is an infrequent disease with an incidence less than 0.05% in general population. It represents 7% of all intracranial aneurysms. Commonly seen in middle age patients with severe atherosclerosis and hypertension, the affected arteries include the basilar artery, supraclinoid segment of the internal carotid artery, middle, anterior and posterior cerebral arteries; males are more frequently affected. The clinical features of these fusiform aneurysms are divided in three categories: ische-mic, cranial nerve compression and signs from mass effect. Hemorrhage may also occur. Nine patients with symptomatic cerebral blood vessel dolichoectasias are presented. Six of them were males with moderate or severe hypertension. Lesions were confined to the basilar artery in 3 cases, carotid arteries and the middle cerebral artery in 1 case, and both systems were affected in 4 patients. Middle cerebral arteries were affected in 5 cases and the anterior cerebral artery in one. An isolated fusiform aneurysm of the posterior cerebral artery is also presented (case 8) (Table 3). Motor or sensory deficits, ataxia, dementia, hemifacial spasm and parkinsonism were observed. One patient died from cerebro-meningeal hemorrhage (Table 2). All patients were studied with computerized axial tomography of the brain, 5 cases with four vessel cerebral angiography, 4 cases with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and case 5 with MRI angiography. Clinical symptoms depend on the affected vascular territory, size of the aneurysm and compression of adjacent structures. The histopathologic findings are atheromatous lesions, disruption of the internal elastic membrane and fibrosis of the muscular wall. The resultant is a diffuse deficiency of the muscular wall and the internal elastic membrane. Recent advances in neuroimaging such as better resolution of CT scan, magnetic resonance images (MRI) and MRI angiography increased the diagnosis of this pathology showing clearly the affected vessels. This avoids the use of conventional or digital subtraction angiography, reserved only for diagnosing suspected saccular aneurysm, evidence of subarachnoid hemorrhage or planning surgical treatment. The treatment of this entity may be medical or surgical. There is evidence suggesting a more favorable outcome with anticoagulation therapy, although antiaggregation is a reasonable alternative. In our experience no difference in clinical outcome was evident. Surgical treatment of this type of aneurysm includes intra- or extracranial occlusion of parent artery, clipping or aneurysm trapping, tourniquet occlusion, and circumferential wrapping with clip reinforcement. Endovascular occlusion has been accomplished with detachable balloon technique or coils. No surgical attempt was done in our cases. The prognosis is variable depending on the patients age, vessels involved and clinical complications.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:[Dolichoectatic intracranial arteries. Advances in images and therapeutics]. 756 39

Superficial hemosiderosis (SH) of the CNS is a rare disease caused by repeated subarachnoid hemorrhage, with progressive superficial siderosis of the CNS. We report a patient with SH whose clinical picture was marked by progressive gait ataxia, hearing loss, dysarthria, and recurrent episodes of hemifacial spasm. Iron and ferritin levels in the CSF were significantly higher than in a control group of patients. Six month's treatment with the iron-chelating agent trientine dihydrochloride led to clinical improvement, with a concomitant reduction of CSF iron level. We suggest that, in addition to magnetic resonance imaging findings, CSF levels of iron and ferritin should be used as diagnostic criteria for SH, as well as to estimate the efficacy of iron chelation treatment.
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PMID:Superficial hemosiderosis of the central nervous system. 855 30

A 67-year-old woman experienced a severe headache and vomiting. A computed tomographic (CT) scan showed a mild subarachnoid hemorrhage. Cerebral angiography revealed a saccular aneurysm at the apex of the basilar artery. Several days later, she noticed mild hemiparesis of the left extremities. She underwent a clipping operation on the aneurysm by approaching from the right temporal love. Postoperatively, she developed diplopia and dilatation of the left pupil. Cerebral angiography revealed an occlusion of the left posterior cerebral artery. She was admitted to another hospital in order to continue rehabilitation. General physical examination was normal. Neurological examination revealed paralysis of the left medial and left inferior rectus muscles and palsy of the left inferior oblique muscle. The pupil of the left eye was dilated, measuring 5 mm in diameter, and it did not constrict to any stimuli. The left superior rectus and levator palpebrae superioris functioned normally. Visual acuity and visual fields were normal except for the influence of a senile cataract. She had a mild left hemiparesis, slight left ataxia and slurred speech. She had numbness of the left half of the body. A CT scan showed small low density areas in the right thalamus and left cerebellar hemisphere. Her ophthalmologic findings were compatible with the inferior branch palsy of the oculomotor nerve. The ophthalmoplegia of this case seems to be due to partial damage of the oculomotor nerve induced by ischemia of vascular supply. It is supposed to be caused by a vasospasm of the left posterior cerebral artery following a clipping operation of the basilar apex aneurysm.
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PMID:[Inferior branch palsy of the oculomotor nerve following clipping of basilar apex aneurysm]. 831 94

Sixteen patients with dissecting aneurysms or pseudoaneurysms of the vertebral artery, 12 involving the intradural vertebral artery and four occurring in the extradural segment, were treated by endovascular occlusion of the dissection site. Patients with vertebral fistulas were excluded from this study. The dissection was caused by trauma in three patients (two iatrogenic) and in the remaining 13 no obvious etiology was disclosed. Nine patients presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), two of whom had severe cardiac disturbances secondary to the bleed. The nontraumatic dissections occurred in seven women and six men, with a mean age on discovery of 48 years. Fifteen patients were treated with endovascular occlusion of the parent artery at or just proximal to the dissection site. One patient had occlusion of a traumatic pseudoaneurysm with preservation of the parent artery. Four patients required transluminal angioplasty because of severe vasospasm produced by the presenting hemorrhage, and all benefited from this procedure with improved arterial flow documented by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography and arteriography. In 15 patients angiography disclosed complete cure of the dissection. One patient with a long dissection of extracranial origin extending intracranially had proximal occlusion of the dissection site. Follow-up angiography demonstrated healing of the vertebral artery dissection but persistent filling of the artery above the balloons, which underscores the need for embolic occlusion near the dissection site. No hemorrhages recurred. One patient had a second SAH at the time of therapy which was immediately controlled with balloons and coils. This patient and one other had minor neurological worsening resulting from the procedure (mild Wallenberg syndrome in one and minor ataxia in the second). Symptomatic vertebral artery dissections involving the intradural and extradural segments can be effectively managed by endovascular techniques. Balloon test occlusion and transluminal angioplasty can be useful adjuncts in the management of this disease.
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PMID:Endovascular treatment of vertebral artery dissections and pseudoaneurysms. 833 98


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