Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0026837 (muscle rigidity)
 1,077 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Tetanus is caused by the organism Clostridium tetani, which produces tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin responsible for the clinical manifestations of muscle rigidity and reflex spasms. The majority of cases follow an anaerobic wound infection associated with trauma. Incubation period is usually 3 days to 3 weeks. 75% of patients present with trismus. Reflex spasms are seen in 70% of patients and characterize the severity of the disease. Treatment involves removal of the offending organism, neutralization of free neurotoxin, controlling rigidity and reflex spasm, and minimizing complications. Diazepam may be used alone in mild cases. Severe cases require the addition of nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents and mechanical ventilation. Respiratory complications occur early and require aggressive airway management. A serious, late complication is the syndrome of sympathetic nervous system overactivity that is treated with alpha and beta blockade. High mortality rates seen in the United States may be due to delays in diagnosis and lack of familiarity with treatment. The disease is preventable with adequate immunization.
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PMID:Tetanus: a review. 44 55

Our electromyographical findings show no evidence for a spinal or neurogenic origin of muscle stiffness in stiff-man syndrome. It is assumed that the tonic muscle rigidity is induced by abnormal impulses from the brainstem. The measured latencies of electrically induced muscle spasm in the legs are in accordance with this hypothetic site of origin. Muscle stiffness and spasm are decreased by the GABA derivative Baclofen as well as by Clonacepam, which is preferable to Diazepam because of less intense sedation. Spasms are increased by Chlorimipramine which may by used as a provocative test in uncertain cases. These pharmacological influences suggest an imbalance between a gabaminergic inhibitory and a noradrenergic and/or serotoninergic excitatory neuronal system.
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PMID:[The stiff-man syndrome. A case report with regard to clinical, electromyographical and pharmacological signs (author's transl)]. 84 10

We evaluated six boys who had developed isolated masseter muscle spasm following intravenous succinylcholine. All were receiving halothane by inhalation.l In vitro muscle contracture tests utilizing halothane and caffeine were performed. Four of the six boys had contracture response similar to those of malignant hyperthermia susceptible patients. Rigidity following succinylcholine should prompt the clinician to consider malignant hyperthermia but has been associated with other myopathic conditions as discussed.
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PMID:Masseter spasm induced by succinylcholine in children: contracture testing for malignant hyperthermia: report of six cases. 705 43

Stiff-man syndrome is a rare neurologic disorder characterized by progressive, fluctuating muscle rigidity with painful muscle contractions affecting predominantly the back and proximal extremities. In the ED, the diagnosis can be easily overlooked and misdiagnosed as acute or chronic low back pain and muscle spasm. This syndrome is often associated with diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and cancer. This report describes an illustrative case of a 39-year-old woman who presented to the ED with a two-year history of right leg spasms and low back pain that had become so severe in the preceding two days that she was unable to ambulate. Clues to the patient's proper diagnosis coincide with the diagnostic criteria for stiff-man syndrome: the presence of a slowly progressive stiffness of the axial muscles and proximal limb muscles, making ambulation difficult; hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine; episodic spasms precipitated by jarring or sudden movement; a normal intellectual, sensory, and motor examination when not in spasm; and a marked amelioration of symptoms with the IV administration of diazepam. High-dose oral diazepam is the maintenance drug of choice.
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PMID:Stiff-man syndrome: case report. 758 54

A total of 93 patients with intractable spasticity due to either spinal cord injury (59 cases), multiple sclerosis (31 cases), or other spinal pathology (three cases) were entered into a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled screening protocol of intrathecal baclofen test injections. Of the 88 patients who responded to an intrathecal bolus of 50, 75, or 100 micrograms of baclofen, 75 underwent implantation of a programmable pump system for chronic therapy. Patients were followed for 5 to 41 months after surgery (mean 19 months). No deaths or new permanent neurological deficits occurred as a result of surgery or chronic intrathecal baclofen administration. Rigidity was reduced from a mean preoperative Ashworth scale score of 3.9 to a mean postoperative score of 1.7. Muscle spasms were reduced from a mean preoperative score of 3.1 (on a four-point scale) to a mean postoperative score of 1.0. Although the dose of intrathecal baclofen required to control spasticity increased with time, drug tolerance was not a limiting factor in this study. Only one patient withdrew from the study because of a late surgical complication (pump pocket infection). Another patient received an intrathecal baclofen overdose because of a human error in programming the pump. The results of this study indicate that intrathecal baclofen infusion can be safe and effective for the long-term treatment of intractable spasticity in patients with spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis.
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PMID:Intrathecal baclofen for intractable spasticity of spinal origin: results of a long-term multicenter study. 842 Dec 5

A 6-year old female child received succinylcholine (1 mg.kg-1) and isoflurane (concentrations of 1.5-2 percent) and developed at the end of surgery a hypermetabolic syndrome suggestive of malignant hyperthermia (MH) with masseter muscle spasm, muscle rigidity, tachypnea, systolic hypertension (140 mm Hg), tachycardia (205 beats.min-1), hypercarbia (end expiratory CO2 71 mmHg), and an increase in body temperature (39.2 degrees C). The child responded well to therapy which included cooling, hyperventilation with pure oxygen and dantrolene administration. However, blood creatine kinase and myoglobin elevations were moderate (respectively 375 IU.L-1 and 114 micrograms.L-1) and an in vitro halothane and caffeine contracture test was negative. Differential diagnostic proposals are discussed and compared to the clinical incident.
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PMID:Malignant hyperthermia suggestive hypermetabolic syndrome at emergence from anesthesia. 871 51

Thyroidectomy procedures are the mainstay treatment for thyroid cancer and are safe and effective when they are performed by experienced surgeons. Preoperative evaluation of patients with suspected thyroid cancer consists of ultrasonography, radioisotope scanning, and computed tomography scans. Postoperative complications of thyroidectomy procedures include hemorrhage, edema of the glottis, muscle rigidity and spasm (ie, tetany), acute thyrotoxicosis, and damage to the laryngeal nerve. Most surgical patients are discharged home within three days after surgery, and many patients require lifelong thyroid hormone replacement to prevent hypothyroidism.
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PMID:Surgical treatment for thyroid cancer. 951 94

Rigidity in the setting of continuous motor unit activity at rest can be caused by a variety of central and peripheral conditions. A central origin is suggested by the presence of painful reflex spasms. Focal spinal lesions and infective causes are relatively easily excluded through imaging, microbiological and serological studies. There then remain a group of patients who may have the classical 'stiff-man syndrome' or a related syndrome. When strict diagnostic criteria are used, patients with the stiff man syndrome uniformly have axial rigidity, and about 90% are found to have antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase. Treatment response and prognosis are excellent. Stiff persons with 'plus' signs, particularly those with rigidity of a distal limb, are unlikely to have the classical stiff man syndrome. They have a poorer treatment response and prognosis. Some have a paraneoplastic aetiology, while a non-malignant autoimmune basis seems likely in others. Those in whom post-mortem pathology findings are available usually are seen to have had an encephalomyelitis with prominent involvement of the grey matter. Clinically, stiff persons with 'plus' signs may be divided into three groups according to the aggressiveness of the pathology and its relative distribution. Encephalomyelitis with rigidity follows a relentless subacute course, leading to death within 3 years. Chronic cases may present with predominantly brainstem involvement, including generalised myoclonus (the 'jerking stiff person syndrome') or spinal cord involvement, dominated by stiffness and spasm in one or more limbs (the 'stiff limb syndrome').
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PMID:The stiff man and stiff man plus syndromes. 1046 Apr 39

Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS) is a very rare disorder characterised by progressive fluctuating muscle rigidity and episodic spasm. So far, only two reports have demonstrated a significant clinical improvement in the patients with SPS when muscle were injected with Botulinum Toxin A (BTA). We investigated the effectiveness of intramuscular injections of BTA in a patient with clinical, biochemical and electrophysiological evidence of SPS. A 41-year-old woman with coexisting epilepsy and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was hospitalised in our Department because of stiffness and paroxysmal spasm of trunk and proximal limbs muscles. Because of not sufficient results of the pharmacological treatment the injections of BTA into involved muscles were done. Clinical observations included measure of pain, frequency of spasm, well-being and selection's activities were performed at baseline and in 1, 2, 7, 11, 16, 20, weeks. Significant improvement started one week after injections and lasting about 4 months was observed. Using BTA injections into involved muscles for the treatment of SPS can be followed by marked functional improvement and reducing the need for systemic drugs.
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PMID:[Botulinum toxin A in the treatment of stiff man syndrome]. 1509 44

A 55-year-old man who was diagnosed as having type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) at the age of 50 years was started on insulin therapy. At 54 years old of age, he suddenly developed complex partial seizures, which frequently occurred despite intensive anti-epileptic drug therapy. Neurological examination on admission revealed hyporeflexia in bilateral upper and lower extremities without any muscle rigidity, painful spasm or cerebellar ataxia. Laboratory examination showed poor glycemic control with increased glycated hemoglobin levels. Positive anti-thyroglobulin antibodies and anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies and slight elevation of TSH levels are consistent with subclinical hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis. A high titer of anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) antibodies was detected in the patient's serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Electroencephalography showed temporal spikes, consistent with complex partial seizure. This is a very rare case presenting with concomitant type 1 diabetes and drug-resistant epilepsy associated with high titers of circulating and CSF anti-GAD antibodies.
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PMID:Type 1 diabetes mellitus and drug-resistant epilepsy: presence of high titer of anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. 1635 56


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