Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004134 (ataxia)
 15,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Nineteen children aged 8-14 years were admitted over a six-year period with an acute encephalopathy due to toluene intoxication. Seven had a history of euphoria and hallucinations. The remainder presented with coma (4), ataxia (3), convulsions (3), and behaviour disturbance with diplopia (2), A history of glue sniffing was elicited in 14, but in the remainder toluene assay confirmed the diagnosis. Thirteen children recovered completely; five still had psychological impairment and personality change on discharge from hospital but were lost to follow-up, and one has a persistent cerebellar ataxia one year after the acute episode, despite absence of further exposure. Toluene inhalation is an important cause of encephalopathy in children and may lead to permanent neurological damage. Diagnosis is most important if further damage due to continued abuse is to be prevented, and toluene assay is a valuable aid to diagnosis.
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PMID:Solvent encephalopathy. 679 Jan 21

During a 6-year period, 23 Navajo adolescents were hospitalized 47 times for presumed lead intoxication secondary to gasoline sniffing. Most patients were male (87%) and sniffed gasoline as a social activity, more frequently in spring and summer. Sixty-five percent of the patients first presented with toxic encephalopathy. Of total episodes, 31% involved asymptomatic lead overload; 31% involved tremor, ataxia, and other neurologic signs; and 38% involved encephalopathy with disorientation and hallucinations. Free erythrocyte protoporphyrin levels were not consistently high, although blood lead levels were all elevated. One death occurred. Approximately 11% of 537 Navajo adolescents said they inhaled gasoline for enjoyment at least occasionally. Among 147 junior high school students, blood lead levels averaged 18 +/- 6 micrograms/dL with no values greater than 40 micrograms/dL. Three of these students had elevated zinc protoporphyrin levels and all three were anemic. No correlation was found between levels of blood lead or zinc protoporphyrin and whether or not the youth reported sniffing gasoline. However, sniffing gasoline was associated with poor school performance and delinquent behavior. Although apparently many Navajo adolescents experiment with gasoline inhalation, only a few engage in this activity frequently enough to develop either asymptomatic or symptomatic lead overload.
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PMID:Gasoline sniffing and lead toxicity in Navajo adolescents. 684 58

Recurrent encephalopathy affecting cerebellar and extrapyramidal structures was observed in five members of two families. The syndrome is characterized by sudden onset of truncal ataxia, occasionally accompanied by lethargy and impairment of speech. Choreic and athetoid movements were present, and there was loss of deep tendon reflexes with presence of pathological reflexes. Onset of the disease was early in childhood. Attacks lasted for days to weeks; residual symptoms comprising speech impairment and incoordination were seen in some patients. Both sexes were affected. The pedigrees suggest autosomal dominant inheritance. Pathogenesis remains unexplained by the laboratory studies done; metabolic or immunological processes predisposed by genetic factors are suggested. Similar reports from the literature are discussed; no identical family could be found.
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PMID:Autosomal dominant recurrent encephalopathy of childhood. 685 11

Primary amebic meningoencephalitis and granulomatous amebic encephalitis are well recognized clinicopathological entities caused by free-living amebas. Associated arteritis and "mycotic aneurysms" with infiltration of intracranial arteries by lymphocytes, amebic trophozoites and cysts have not been previously reported. A 26-month-old girl had a 3-week history of encephalitis, characterized, initially, by vomiting and low-grade fever. Subsequently, she developed ataxia, generalized weakness, lethargy, and esotropia. The first CSF showed 490 RBC/microliters, 705 WBC/microliters with 90% mononuclears. Her pupils reacted briskly to light. Moderate nuchal rigidity, nystagmus, fixed downward gaze, anisocoria, bilateral 6th nerve palsy, left arm monoparesis and left Babinski were present. CAT scan revealed slight symmetrical dilatation of anterior horns of lateral ventricles and an area of abnormal enhancement above the 3rd ventricle. She died 14 days after admission, 5 weeks after onset of symptoms. The brain showed focal necrotizing encephalopathy, involving thalami, cerebellum, brain stem, and cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord. Numerous free-living amebic trophozoites and cysts were present within a chronic granulomatous encephalitis. There were trombosis of basilar, posterior cerebral, and vertebral arteries with profuse chronic panarteritis, fibrinoid necrosis, and mycotic aneurysms.
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PMID:Granulomatous encephalitis, intracranial arteritis, and mycotic aneurysm due to a free-living ameba. 689 86

Levine produced encephalitis in Lewis rats after injection of pertussis vaccine together with spinal cord tissue of guinea-pigs. This animal model was used as an assay for the possible side-effects of pertussis vaccines prepared from whole bacteria or with extracted antigens. Wistar and Lewis rats were injected with a mixture of guinea-pig spinal cord and cFA together with vaccines into the pad of each hind food. During a period of 25 days, the rats were observed for paralysis, ataxia, and death. Wistar rats were not found to be sensitive enough. Lewis rats were high susceptible in this model; they developed a high rate of allergic encephalopathy. DPT-vaccines prepared with soluble antigens showed a reduced neurotoxic activity. The results were compared with the histamine-sensitizing assay and the mouse weight-gain test. In these assays similar results were found. The proposed animal assay is recommended in the preclinical testing of pertussis vaccines.
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PMID:Allergic encephalomyelitis in rats - toxicity assay for pertussis vaccines. 693

A short review is given of the pharmacokinetic characteristics and side effects of the nitroimidazoles: metronidazole, tinidazole and ornidazole. The drugs are well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, maximum plasma levels generally being obtained 1 to 4 h after oral intake. Metronidazole has been shown to be absorbed after rectal administration; vaginal absorption is documented for all three drugs. The nitroimidazoles are widely distributed in the body, cross the placenta and appear in breast milk. Therapeutically effective concentrations of e.g. metronidazole have been demonstrated in e.g. the central nervous system, middle ear discharges, bile, peritoneal fluid, and fluids and tissues of the female genital tract. The binding to plasma proteins is less than 20%. Available data suggest that the elimination half-lives of these drugs differ, being 7-8 h for metronidazole, about 12 h for tinidazole and 14-15 h for ornidazole. Both metronidazole and ornidazole, but not tinidazole, seem to be extensively metabolized before elimination. The nature and frequency of adverse reactions to this drug include encephalopathy in a few patients treated with doses between 5 and 10 g daily as an adjunct to radiotherapy, and peripheral neuropathy observed in patients treated for prolonged periods with high doses. Among the common side effects of the nitroimidazoles are symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract such as nausea, anorexia, vomiting and metallic or bitter taste. Dizziness, ataxia and headache have been reported. When given together with alcohol, a disulfiram-like intolerance reaction can be obtained.
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PMID:Pharmacokinetics of nitroimidazoles. Spectrum of adverse reactions. 694 57

A 15 year old boy was evaluated in the psychiatric emergency room for the acute onset of "confusion,"insomnia, headache, and shaking of one week's duration. Two days later hallucinations, formication and a movement disorder emerged characterized by action tremor, myoclonus, chorea and ataxia. Further history revealed inhalation of gasoline for its euphoric effects. Plasma lead levels were in the toxic range. Chelation therapy reversed the clinical symptoms. Behavioral changes and a movement disorder in the context of gasoline inhalation are highly suggestive of organic lead encephalopathy. Recognition of this syndrome is important as chelation therapy is effective.
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PMID:Organic lead encephalopathy: behavioral change and movement disorder following gasoline inhalation. 705 7

Typical clinical signs and symptoms of bismuth intoxication are illustrated in a cases of a 45-year-old woman. Initially psychasthenia appears followed by acute delirium with ataxia, myoclonic jerks and occasionally coma. If patients survive the acute phase they recover only gradually following discontinuation of bismuth medication. In cases of extreme intoxication, permanent memory deficits may occur. Etiology, pathogenesis, laboratory findings, differential diagnosis and therapy of this rare iatrogenic encephalopathy are discussed.
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PMID:[Acute delirium in bismuth poisoning]. 713 55

The examination of five pediatric patients with encephalopathy secondary to chronic renal failure has indicated a stereotyped sequence of neurologic signs and symptoms including ataxia, loss of motor abilities, myoclonus, seizures, dementia, and bulbar dysfunction. Both the patients with CNS dysfunction and a control group selected for a similar degree of renal failure had increased levels of serum phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, and parathyroid hormone. Serial EEGs in the affected group revealed progressive slowing and an increase in paroxysmal features. No specific neuropathologic findings were noted in one patient.
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PMID:Encephalopathy in infants and children with chronic renal disease. 729 12

Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency is an X-linked recessive disorder of urea biosynthesis characterized by recurrent, often fatal, hyperammonemic encephalopathy in affected males; carrier females are usually asymptomatic. We report here the clinical and laboratory findings in five symptomatic heterozygous females with ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency. In each case, the onset of symptoms occurred in the 1st year of life, but diagnosis was delayed by up to 15 years. Symptoms included recurrent vomiting with lethargy (five patients), dietary protein intolerance (five), irritability (four), severe acute encephalopathy (three), ataxia (three), and acute hemiparesis (two). All eventually showed evidence of developmental delay or learning difficulties. Two of the three who experienced severe, acute, hyperammonemic encephalopathy suffered serious, permanent neurologic sequelae. Three of the patients showed decreased ornithine transcarbamylase activity in liver obtained by needle biopsy, and the other two had marked orotic aciduria associated with hyperammonemia. Neuroimaging studies demonstrated persistent abnormal lobar attenuation and abnormal signal on computed tomographic scan and magnetic resonance imaging. All patients showed marked symptomatic improvement on treatment with dietary protein restriction supplemented by pharmacologic measures to increase nonprotein nitrogen excretion. Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute or chronic encephalopathy in females at any age.
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PMID:Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency in females: an often overlooked cause of treatable encephalopathy. 749 56


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