Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0014070 (encephalomyelitis)
 13,017 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Despite rapid dissemination of Borrelia burgdorferi throughout the body following initial inoculation, the clinical manifestations of this illness tend to involve specific organ systems preferentially. The nervous system, in particular, is frequently affected; involvement usually follows one of several distinct patterns. Most commonly, patients develop a lymphocytic meningitis, radiculoneuritis or cranial neuropathy, occurring singly or in combination. Patients with radicular involvement often have a myelopathic component as well. At the other extreme, rare patients will develop focal inflammation of the central nervous system, an encephalomyelitis, that appears to involve white matter more often than grey. More commonly, patients may develop cognitive and memory impairment-a mild encephalopathy. In some patients this may represent a subtle form of encephalomyelitis, while in others it is probably a "toxic-metabolic" effect of systemic infection. Disease variability among patients probably is the result of multiple factors, including bacterial strain differences in virulence and organotropism, inoculum size, host immunity, and simultaneous co-infection with other tick-borne organisms. Accurate diagnosis remains somewhat problematic. The cerebrospinal fluid is almost always abnormal in the presence of active CNS infection. Intrathecal production of specific antibody can be demonstrated in over 90% of patients with meningitis or frank inflammatory encephalomyelitis; in patients with a milder encephalopathy this is less consistently observed. In most instances, diagnosis relies on a combination of demonstration of a specific immune response, and clinical judgment. In patients in whom the diagnosis is secure, appropriate antimicrobial therapy is highly effective in the vast majority of cases, although if there has been significant structural damage to the CNS, some residua may remain.
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PMID:Neuroborreliosis: central nervous system involvement. 916 55

Lyme neuroborreliosis is diagnostically challenging because of its diverse manifestations. The well-documented neurologic spectrum includes lymphocytic meningitis, cranial neuropathy, and radiculoneuritis in the early disseminated stage; and peripheral neuropathy, chronic encephalomyelitis, and mild encephalopathy in the late persistent stage. This case report describes a 74-year-old man who developed progressive left hemiparesis and facial palsy. The patient was hospitalized to rule out a cerebral vascular accident. The diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis was established with serologic studies. The patient was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone and responded with rapid clinical and functional recovery. Lyme neuroborreliosis presenting as hemiparesis has rarely been reported. Prompt diagnosis and treatment appear to facilitate symptomatic relief and prevent persistent neurologic deficits.
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PMID:Lyme neuroborreliosis mimics stroke: a case report. 1076 46

Tick-borne borreliosis (Borrelia burgdorferi) is a common and complex disorder affecting the skin, the joints and the nervous system. It progresses through different clinical stages. The clinical spectrum of neuroborreliosis has expanded since the introduction and widespread application of specific serological tests. We have investigated 41 patients with Bannwarth's meningopolyneuritis (MPN) as the classical form of neuroborreliosis, in a prospective (26 patients) and a retrospective (15 patients) study. When questioned, 19/41 patients reported a tick bite and only 15/41, erythema migrans as the characteristic early skin lesion. In 34/41 patients typical MPN characterized by painful radiculoneuritis and/or cranial neuritis, especially facial palsy, were seen. Among these, 3 had a complicated form with a progressive remitting relapsing course or focal central nervous system involvement (hemiparesis, cerebellar syndrome); 2 had mild meningitis and facial nerve palsy bilaterally without radicular pain; and in 5 radicular pain was the only symptom. MPN associated with Lyme arthritis was observed only once. In 2 patients in the retrospective study (no antibiotics in the acute stage) we saw a chronic spinal cord disorder with spastic paresis several years after uncomplicated MPN, accompanied in 1 of them by acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA), the typical late-onset borrelia-induced dermatosis. In the acute stage of the disease 40/41 patients had a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) syndrome compatible with MPN (mononuclear pleocytosis, blood-brain barrier dysfunction, elevated IgG and/or oligoclonal bands). IgG antibody titers against borrelia antigen were elevated in all patients in the serum and in 21/30 also in the CSF. In all patients pain was an early and prominent symptom; the first symptoms are usually felt in the region of the tick bite or the erythema, initially as diffuse myalgia, arthralgia or pain in the connective tissue. In the further course the migrating pain becomes more radicular in character, without being limited to defined dermatomic areas or peripheral nerves. The intense, burning pain is characterized by exacerbation during the night. Peripherally and centrally acting analgesics have only minor effects. Often neurological deficits are still absent at this time. Erythema migrans with radicular pain in the region of the dermatological lesion was observed in 2 patients. This is an early manifestation of MPN. After MPN and/or Lyme arthritis a sympathetic reflex dystrophy (SRD) developed in 2 patients. In a further patient SRD was observed right at the beginning of the illness, immediately before MPN. There is a close clinical similarity between SRD and the acute stage of ACA. Therefore, borreliosis can be assumed to produce a painful skin dystrophy like SRD or ACA by direct injury to the sympathetic nerves even in the early clinical stage of the infection. The main conditions to be considered in the differential diagnosis are polymyalgia rheumatica; lumbar disk herniation; inflammatory radiculopathies of other origin (e.g. herpes zoster); painful neuropathies, including the diabetic thoraco-abdominal form; internal disorders of chest and abdomen with referred pain; lymphocytic meningitis of other origin, encephalomyelitis; and sympathetic reflex dystrophy. High-dose penicillin G i.v. is a potent analgesic in all patients with tick-borne neuroborreliosis.
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PMID:[Pain syndromes in tick-borne neuroborreliosis. Clinical aspects and differential diagnosis.]. 1841 56

Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy is an autoimmune neurological disorder associated with the presence of anti-GFAP IgG. Meningoencephalitis is the predominant clinical presentation of autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy in published case series. We report a case of autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy with the unusual feature of radiculoneuritis in addition to encephalomyelitis, resulting in flaccid paralysis unresponsive to immunotherapy. Imaging data confirmed involvement of brain, spinal cord and nerve roots. Electrodiagnostic testing showed changes consistent with a severe sensorimotor neuropathy with active denervation. The results of this case suggest the need for future studies to assess the impact of peripheral nerve involvement on the outcome of autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy.
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PMID:Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein astrocytopathy resulting in treatment-refractory flaccid paralysis. 3192 53