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Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The authors report the case of an AIDS patient with rare neurologic manifestations: primary vasculitis of the central nervous system and VIII cranial nerve dysfunction. The authors make a review on the subject, and call special attention for the differential diagnosis. In fact, the patient, a 36 year old woman, with promiscuous life, presented with dizziness, gait ataxia, nausea, headache and hypoacusia. Seven days after the admission, she noted blurred vision in both eyes and soon she became blind. The physical examination showed bilateral optic neuritis and vestibulocochlear dysfunction, stiff neck and fever. No abnormalities were detected on CT scan. CSF showed 40 mononuclear cells/mm3, 79 mg/dl of proteins and normal glucose content. Microbiological research was negative. Serum anti-HIV test was positive. The hypothesis of primary CNS vasculitis was made, and pulse methylprednisolone therapy was introduced with good recovery of neurological syndrome except for persistent amaurosis.
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PMID:[Isolated vasculitis of the central nervous system and involvement of the 8th cranial nerve: rare manifestations of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]. 130 67

Nine young adults (median age 19.5 years) who suffered from amaurosis fugax (AF) are described. The attacks of AF were short in duration and preceded by premonitory symptoms in five cases and by a migrainous headache in two. In five patients the visual loss progressed in a lacunar pattern unlike the 'curtain' pattern characteristic of AF in older patients. Investigation revealed no evidence of an embolic or atheromatous aetiology. In two cases a minor abnormality was found on echocardiography. We conclude that AF in young adults has a different clinical pattern and may have a different aetiology, possibly migrainous, compared with that seen in older patients. The pattern of visual loss in some of the cases suggests that the choroidal circulation rather than the retinal circulation is primarily affected.
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PMID:Amaurosis fugax in young people. 834 83

There is a strong link between antiphospholipid antibodies and stroke. Retrospective studies indicate that these patients are generally young, often have had prior thrombotic events including stroke, frequently complain of headaches, and often experience amaurosis fugax. Cardiac valvular lesions, particularly involving the mitral valve, are frequently found. The limited pathological studies show a noninflammatory thrombotic occlusion of both large and small cerebral vessels and a "thrombotic endocarditis." The underlying pathogenesis involves an immune-mediated prothrombotic state.
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PMID:Stroke associated with antiphospholipid antibodies. 156 70

Dissection of the cervicocranial arteries is becoming more frequently recognized as a cause of neurological disorders. Typical clinical features seen with dissection include unilateral headache, oculosympathetic palsy, amaurosis fugax, and symptoms of focal brain ischemia. The diagnosis of carotid or intracranial dissection is usually best confirmed by angiography, although magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography have been shown to visualize intimal dissection. The prognosis in cases of spontaneous dissection is generally benign unless the initial manifestation involves infarction with substantial deficit. The best approach to treatment appears to be the administration of the anticoagulant, heparin, followed by warfarin or antiplatelet therapy. Surgical intervention is reserved for cases of progressive or recurrent ischemic complication that occurs despite the administration of adequate doses of anticoagulants.
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PMID:Cervicocranial arterial dissection. 187 Jun 93

Altogether 45 patients (41 women and 4 men) with benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) were observed. BIH developed in 22 women in the gestation period, in 4 during a menopause, in 2 in the presence of hypothyroidism, in 2 due to respiratory infection, in 2 due to a slight cerebrocranial injury, and in one patient with associated galactorrhea-amenorrhea. The cause of BIH in 12 patients remained unclear. Most of the women were obese (33 of 41). The clinical picture of BIH consisted of headaches, congested optic discs, and elevated pressure of cerebrospinal fluid. In most cases prognosis turned out favorable. In the residual period, 1 patient had amaurosis, 25 presented with mild headache, 19 completely recovered. Three women had recurrent BIH.
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PMID:[Benign intracranial hypertension syndrome]. 229 Mar 26

Acute enlargement of pituitary adenomas due to haemorrhage or ischaemic necrosis in the tumour was described as "pituitary apoplexy" by Brougham et al. in 1950. Since then, more than 200 cases have been reported, but--especially in the German literature--the syndrome has caught only little attention. Therefore, in a series of 12 own patients, typical findings and clinical characteristics are demonstrated and the literature is discussed. 9 patients had a haemorrhage into the tumour, 3 an acute ischaemic necrosis. The guiding symptom was the acute onset with ophthalmoplegia (11 of 12 patients). Only in one case the adenoma was known before the apoplexy. Other symptoms were headache, blurred vision, drowsiness and, in severe cases, hemiparesis, coma, and hypothalamic disorder. Most important is the acute endocrinological substitution with hydrocortisone; this may be life-saving. Neuroophthalmological recovery depends on early operation: cases of oculomotor palsy require an operation within the first 2 weeks after the acute event. An emergency operation is required only by an acute amaurosis. In general there will be enough time for careful clinical endocrinological and radiological investigations.
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PMID:[Acute hemorrhage and ischemic necroses in hypophyseal tumors: hypophyseal apoplexy]. 259 99

Neurological examination and Doppler sonography of a 50-year-old patient were suggestive of a spontaneous dissection of the left internal carotid artery (left-sided headaches, amaurosis fugax, Horner's syndrome and hemispheric stroke). Four-vessel angiogram performed several days after the onset of the symptoms showed dissection of both extracranial carotid arteries, more pronounced on right side where the dissection was clinically asymptomatic. Angiogram follow-up demonstrated a recanalization of both carotid arteries. A review of 15 other documented reports indicates that bilateral internal carotid dissection is usually associated with fibromuscular dysplasia. A large majority of cases does not clinically differ from unilateral carotid artery dissection.
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PMID:Spontaneous dissection of both extracranial internal carotid arteries. 268 19

We have evaluated 100 biopsies of temporal artery carried out in the Hospital La Paz from 1972 to 1986. On the basis of the histological result and the final diagnosis we divided the patients in five groups: I, temporal arteritis/polymyalgia rheumatica with positive biopsy, 11 cases; II, temporal arteritis without polymyalgia symptoms and with positive biopsy, 16 cases; III, temporal arteritis with negative biopsy, 7 cases; IV, polymyalgia with negative biopsy, 14 cases; and V, other diagnoses, 43 cases. The number of diagnoses of temporal arteritis/polymyalgia rheumatica has increased throughout the recent years, although the positive biopsies/overall biopsies ratio has remained constant. Certain symptoms such as claudication, headache, amaurosis and Raynaud's phenomenon have a high predictive value of a positive result, but their sensitivity is low. In the 25 patients with polymyalgia, biopsy was positive in 11, out of which 4 did not have features of temporal arteritis. Biopsy was positive in 4 out of the 9 patients in whom it was repeated in the contralateral side. The diagnostic yield was higher in those cases in whom it was indicated for classical temporal arteritis symptoms, but we emphasize that there was a 19% positive rate in patients who presented with fever of unknown origin, while it was only 5.5% in those in whom a constitutional syndrome was being evaluated. We conclude that the use of temporal biopsy should be more widespread, as its cost is low and it has no side effects; therefore, it can achieve a great benefit for the patient with a shorter and less expensive hospital stay.
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PMID:[Usefulness of temporal artery biopsy: analysis of 100 cases]. 270

The Hemostasis and Thrombosis Laboratory at the Oregon Health Sciences University identified 80 patients with significantly elevated anticardiolipin antibody (ACLA) levels. We reviewed all of their available medical records and found that 25 of these patients had associated neurological symptoms or disorders. These symptoms and disorders could be grouped into four distinct clinical patterns comprising encephalopathy, multiple cerebral infarctions, migraine-like headaches, and visual abnormalities including amaurosis fugax and ischemic optic neuropathy. Cerebral ischemia best explained these neurological dysfunctions. There was no correlation between the presence or absence of neurological disease and ACLA levels, but ACLA levels were higher in patients with encephalopathy than in others with neurological involvement (p less than 0.05). How neurological dysfunction and the presence of these antiphospholipid antibodies are related remains to be clarified. Nevertheless, in patients with unexplained cerebral ischemia, establishing the presence of ACLA may have prognostic and therapeutic importance. In particular, acute immunosuppressive therapy and plasmapheresis may be useful in patients with acute ischemic encephalopathy.
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PMID:Neurological disease associated with antiphospholipid antibodies. 272 12

Because the cause and natural history of amaurosis fugax and ocular infarction are unknown in most younger patients, we reviewed the records of 83 patients who had become symptomatic before the age of 45. Cerebral transient ischemic attacks had occurred in 9 of these patients but no case of stroke was found. A striking feature of these patients was that 41% had headache or orbital pain accompanying their amaurotic spells and an additional 25.3% had severe headaches independent of the visual loss. Results of laboratory studies were rarely abnormal and echocardiography disclosed that only 1 patient had previously unknown heart disease. Mitral valve prolapse was detected in 6.5%, a figure similar to that expected for the general population. Of the original 83 patients, 42 were reexamined after a mean period of 5.8 years. None of the patients in this group had had a stroke, and the clinical status at follow-up was not found to correlate with the duration of the visual loss (amaurosis fugax versus ocular infarction), frequency (single versus recurrent episodes), sex, presence of headache or heart disease, cigarette smoking, use of oral contraceptives, or abnormal findings on echocardiograms or laboratory studies. We conclude that amaurosis fugax and ocular infarction occurring in the younger patient are probably associated with a more benign clinical course than that seen in older persons and that migraine is a likely cause for the episodes of visual loss in a majority of this group. Because of this, we believe that a conservative approach to the evaluation of such patients seems warranted.
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PMID:Amaurosis fugax and ocular infarction in adolescents and young adults. 277 3


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