Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 24-year-old immune-competent woman was admitted to hospital with a three-day history of fever and headache. On examination bilateral facial nerve palsy, lumbosacral radicular pain, reduced sacral sensibility and urinary retention were found. Open perianal lesions were suspect for genital herpes. The symptoms were compatible with a meningoradiculitis including a sacral polyradiculitis. On testing, cerebrospinal fluid was found to be abnormal with a lymphocytic cell reaction. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of cerebrospinal fluid and of the perianal lesions was positive for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). An MRI scan showed colouration of part of the cauda equina. The patient was treated by intravenous injections of acyclovir 10 mg/kg t.i.d. for 21 days, after which she completely recovered. HSV-2 infection of the nervous system can cause lymphocytic, and sometimes recurrent meningitis as well as sacral polyradiculitis. It may also occur without any symptomatic genital herpes infection. A positive result from a PCR test of the cerebrospinal fluid confirms this diagnosis. Treatment with acyclovir should be started as soon as possible.
 ...
PMID:[Meningoradiculitis caused by herpes simplex virus type 2]. 1801 19

The areas of Europe in which West Nile virus (WNV)-transmission to humans is observed have expanded over the last few years, with endemic circulation amongst animals of southern Europe. This situation calls for heightened vigilance to the clinical presentation of WNV infection in humans. The average incubation period lasts 2-6 days. Of those infected, 20% will experience a mild, non-specific disease presentation such as high fever, headache, myalgia, possibly with rash and lymphadenopathy; <1% will develop severe neurological symptoms. Rare complications include: myelitis, optic neuritis, rhombencephalitis, polyradiculitis, myocarditis, pancreatitis and fulminant hepatitis. Clinicians should take WNV infection into consideration when making a differential diagnosis for such symptoms in patients who have returned from areas with potential virus circulation. Given the increase in the spread of WNV within Europe, this now holds true for continental travellers as well as those destined for the Americas, Africa and Asia. It is important to include the patient's travel history, clinical symptoms and any occurrences of vaccination against viruses causing Japanese encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis and yellow fever into the diagnostic workup, as the antibodies against these diseases show cross-reactivity.
 ...
PMID:[West Nile virus expanding in Europe]. 2196 90

Most of the parasitoses manifest systemically, including the central nervous system (CNS). Among the most prevalent parasitoses in Central Europe (cysticercosis, toxocarosis, echinococcosis, and toxoplasmosis), cerebral involvement is well recognized and part of the clinical presentation, which cannot be neglected. CNS involvement results from invasion of larvae of these parasites via the blood stream or by direct migration into the CNS. Most frequently larvae reside within the cerebral parenchyma, but sometimes also within the ventricles, in the meningeas within cerebral aneurysms, or in the parenchyma of the spinal cord. Depending on the stage of their development, they cause a local defect or more widespread damage, such as encephalitis, ventriculitis, ependymitis, arachnoiditis, meningitis, myelitis, polyradiculitis, mechanical obstruction of the arterial or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow, or vasculitis with appropriate clinical presentations. These include epilepsy, headache, impaired consciousness, orientation, cognition, focal neurological motor, sensory, or vegetative deficits, or visual impairment. CNS involvement is diagnosed on the clinical presentation, the epidemiological background, blood and CSF investigations, imaging studies, and sometimes biopsy. Treatment is based on various antihelminthic agents and, occasionally, surgery.
...
PMID:Parasitoses with central nervous system involvement. 2529 98