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Clinical features, findings of diagnostic studies, results of therapy, and prognostic factors were analyzed in 45 patients with brain abscesses. The number of patients diagnosed yearly has increased since CT scanning became available, but despite the enhanced sensitivity, the time from either onset of symptoms or hospital admission until initiation of therapy was not decreased and there was no dramatic effect upon morbidity or mortality in this series. Infections of paranasal sinuses, ears, lungs, and odontogenic foci were predisposing factors in approximately 70% of cases. Single abscesses, present in 75% of patients, were distributed equally in both hemispheres, with more than half in the frontal and parietal lobes. Common signs and symptoms included headache, fever, chills, seizures, nausea, vomiting, altered sensorium, nuchal rigidity, and localizing neurologic signs. Blood cultures were positive in 11%. Lumbar puncture rarely provided data from which a diagnosis could be established; CSF cultures were positive in only 7% of patients, and there was a 15% temporally associated incidence of brain herniation and death. Diagnostic information was most readily obtained using imaging techniques such as CT and 99mTc scanning, and arteriography was invasive and of no added value. CT scans are however, often initially negative in patients presenting with clinical signs of meningitis presumably following rupture of an abscess into the subarachnoid space, and the average time for changes to appear on CT scan is 9 days. It is, therefore, recommended that when the clinical assessment suggests the possibility of brain abscess the patient be treated empirically with antibiotics and that lumbar puncture be performed only after thoughtful assessment of the risk-to-benefit ratio for each patient. Causative organisms were isolated from more than 80% of abscesses despite prior antibiotic treatment; more than half grew a single pathogen, most commonly streptococci. Anaerobic and microaerophilic bacteria accounted for 62% of all isolates, and were the only organisms in 33% of patients. Computerized tomographic scans in 30 patients showed "ring-enhancing" lesions, nodular enhancement, or areas of low attenuation. Complete resolution of abscesses on CT scans rarely occurred during hospitalization and took as long as 5 months. Decrease in the size of abscesses on CT scan correlated well with clinical improvement and was seen within a week when abscesses were excised, but was often not obvious for 6 to 8 weeks if antibiotics were used alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Brain abscess. A study of 45 consecutive cases. 378

Neurologic complications continue to occur in approximately 30 per cent of all patients with infective endocarditis and represent a major factor associated with an increased mortality rate in that disease. Of these complications, cerebral embolism is the most common and the most important, occurring in as many as 30 per cent of all patients, most of whom ultimately die. Emboli that are infected also account for all the other complications (mycotic aneurysm, meningitis or meningoencephalitis, brain abscess) that may develop. Emboli are more common in patients with mitral valve infection and in those infected with more virulent organisms. Mycotic aneurysms (often preceded by an embolic event) occur more frequently and earlier in the course of acute endocarditis, rather than later, which is more common in the course of subacute disease. The management of a cerebral mycotic aneurysm depends on the presence or absence of hemorrhage, its anatomic location and the clinical course. Healing can occur during the course of effective antimicrobial therapy and thus will preclude the need for automatic surgery in all angiographically demonstrated aneurysms. The indication for surgical intervention must be evaluated on an individual basis. Meningitis is usually purulent when associated with virulent organisms, but the CSF may present an aseptic formula when associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage or multiple microscopic embolic lesions, infected or otherwise. Macroscopic brain abscesses are rare, but multiple microscopic abscesses are not uncommon in patients with acute endocarditis due to virulent organisms. Seizures are not uncommon in patients with infective endocarditis. Focal seizures are more commonly associated with acute emboli, whereas generalized seizures are more commonly associated with systemic metabolic factors. Penicillin neurotoxicity should be considered in seizure patients with compromised renal function who are receiving high doses of penicillin. The CSF tends to reflect the nature of the infecting organism rather than the nature of the neurologic complication, except when hemorrhage is present. Endocarditis due to virulent organisms, such as Staphylococcus aureus, is usually associated with a purulent CSF formula, whereas non-virulent organisms, such as "viridans" streptococci, usually have aseptic or normal CSF formulas.
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PMID:Neurologic complications of infective endocarditis. 383 85

Six patients with chronic epilepsy had persistent periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges (PLEDs) in their interictal electroencephalographic recordings. Three patients had complex partial seizures, two had infantile spasms, and one had multifocal seizures. Four patients had cerebral pathologic changes consisting of tuberous sclerosis (two patients), a porencephalic cyst (one patient), and a chronic brain abscess (one patient). Although PLEDs are usually seen in association with an acute or subacute disturbance of cerebral function, the findings in this group of patients show that chronic PLEDs also can occur in patients with long-standing seizure disorders or chronic brain lesions.
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PMID:Chronic periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges. 396 17

The clinical courses of 31 episodes of brain abscess and one episode of meningitis occurring in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia are reviewed. Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations were demonstrable in all but two patients and presumably permitted septic microemboli to evade the normal pulmonary capillary filter and lodge in the brain. Obtundation, headache, visual disturbances, hemiplegia, and seizures were the most common presenting features. Cyanosis, clubbing, polycythemia, and hypoxemia were routinely encountered, but leukocytosis and fever were present in a minority of cases, and all blood cultures were sterile. Anaerobic and microaerophilic streptococci were the commonest pathogens found in the brain abscesses. Thirteen patients died, and patients without abscess drainage or with delayed diagnosis had a higher mortality rate. A brain abscess may develop in approximately 1 percent of patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, and awareness of this risk should lead to early investigation of any patient with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia who has neurologic symptoms.
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PMID:Central nervous system infections associated with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. 637 93

In 19 children with acute infantile hemiplegia an ischemic cerebral infarct was found clinically and by serial computertomography. In 11 patients an angiography has been performed in addition. 9 of the children had chronic diseases which are known as predisposing factors for cerebrovascular disease (congenital heart disease in 7 and chronic renal failure with hypertension in 2). One child had a severe hypernatremic dehydration due to infantile diarrhea and in 1 child thrombosis of the internal carotid artery occurred 3 days after a perforating trauma of the soft palate. No obvious reason for the ischemic stroke could be evaluated in 8 children. The onset of symptoms was either acute or slowly progressive. An altered state of consciousness was present in 11 children. Hemiparesis was found in 18 patients (13 right, 5 left) accompanied by facial palsy in 12 and aphasia in 6. Seizures occurred in 6 patients. One patient with incomplete occlusion of a vertebral artery showed acute cerebellar ataxia. In children without predisposing factors the prevalence of girls was higher (2 : 6) and there was a history of a preceding acute febrile illness in 5 of 8 patients. Laboratory investigations showed polycythemia in 4 children with cyanotic heart disease and additional hypochromia in two. Blood sedimentation rate was increased in 6 out of 8 patients without a known predisposing factor. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed a slight increase of erythrocytes (36-88/cmm) in 4 children, in two others purulent CSF was obtained after the infarct had developed into a brain abscess. The etiology of ischemic stroke in childhood and the possibility of an inflammatory vascular disease are discussed.
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PMID:Acute infantile hemiplegia caused by cerebral ischemic infarction. Etiology, clinical features and investigations. 647 69

Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was determined in 53 patients with neurological diseases as follows: Epilepsy (n:17), febrile convulsions (n:3), meningoencephalitis (n:17), encephalopathies (n:10), CNS leukemia (n:3), congenital hydrocephalus (n:2) and pseudoileus neonatorum (n:1). Compared with the mean normal value (5.2 +/- 2.5 pmol CO2 formed/hr/ml) reported in Part I, a significant increase of GAD activity in CSF was demonstrated in patients with uncontrolled epileptic seizures (11.4 +/- 3.9 pmol CO2 formed/hr/ml), febrile convulsions (13.5 +/- 8.7), viral meningitis with or without encephalitis (20.3 +/- 13.6), encephalopathies (30.0 +/- 25.9), CNS leukemia (11.1 +/- 5.0), congenital hydrocephalus (20.5 +/- 7.3) and pseudoileus neonatorum (28.6). Markedly high GAD activity was found in patients with CNS leukemia several days after intrathecal injection of methotrexate (39.8 +/- 18.0). On the other hand, significantly low GAD activity was shown in patients with bacterial meningitis or brain abscess (1.3 +/- 1.2). This suggests that some bacterial factors may be inhibitory toward GAD activity in CSF. High GAD activity in CSF may be useful as an indicator of aseptic brain dysfunction, although it was not always correlated with the severity of symptoms.
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PMID:Glutamic acid decarboxylase in cerebrospinal fluid in infancy and childhood Part II. Glutamic acid decarboxylase activity in cerebrospinal fluid of children with neurological diseases. 666 Apr 21

A case of hereditary hemorrhagic teleangiectasia (HHT) or Rendu-Osler-Weber disease with neurological involvement is reported. The patient presented a diffuse cortical dysfunction with seizures after a gastric haemorrhage disturbance. The authors could not find vascular malformations of brain or pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (PAVF), so a anoxic encephalopathy followed a shock or a microangiopathic dysfunction is postulated. The main neurological manifestations of HHT are discussed, emphasizing in the first place the role of the PAVF on the genesis of cerebral hypoxemia and brain abscess and occasionally a cerebral thrombosis caused by polycythemia and in the second place the vascular malformations of brain and spinal cord. The portal-systemic encephalopathy may also occur as a neurological complication in few cases.
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PMID:[Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Report of a case]. 666 Nov 5

Two patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD) and erythremia were seen for abrupt onset of focal neurologic deficits and/or seizure without signs of infection or increased intracranial pressure. Clinical features and initial computed tomography (CT) in both cases suggested stroke. Subsequent CT scans demonstrated cerebral abscess, proved at operation. Review of records of patients with CHD at the University of Rochester (NY) Medical Center from 1965 to 1981 disclosed 12 cases with brain abscess but only two cases with aseptic cerebral infarction. All but one patient with abscess were cyanotic. One third of patients with abscess had a clinical picture suggesting stroke. Clinical or radiologic features of half the cases indicated that cerebral infarction may have led to abscess formation. Diagnosis of brain abscess and immediate antibiotic therapy should be strongly considered in patients with cyanotic CHD who suffer a suspected cerebral infarction.
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PMID:Cyanotic congenital heart disease with suspected stroke. Should all patients receive antibiotics? 683 Apr 69

In a retrospective study of 4,294 consecutive postmortem cases, there were 15 with histologically proved sarcoidosis, including 4 with CNS involvement. Whereas in previously reported autopsy series the prevalence of neurosarcoidosis was 15%, it is 27% in this review. Five cases with incidental, clinically inapparent sarcoidosis died at a mean age of 54.6 years; those six with systemic sarcoidosis, not involving the CNS, died at a mean age of 47.0 years; while those four with a variety of neurologic manifestations in addition to systemic sarcoidosis died at a mean age of 38.2 years. Thus, it appears that at one end of the spectrum of morbidity, sarcoidosis may cause no or only trivial symptoms and permit prolonged survival. At the other extreme, sarcoidosis may affect a younger population more severely. CNS involvement occurs relatively early in the course and its rather rapidly progressive, accounting for the poor prognosis, despite appropriate medical and neurosurgical management. In its turn, neurosarcoidosis may present with a variety of signs and symptoms, depending on the site of involvement along the craniospinal axis. This feature is illustrated by the manifestations of compression myelopathy, hydrocephalus with dementia, hydrocephalus with seizures and ataxia, and anosmia, blindness, seizures, and diabetes insipidus. In addition, one patient developed a Nocardia brain abscess as a complication of the altered immune system in sarcoidosis.
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PMID:Pathobiology of neurosarcoidosis and clinicopathologic correlation. 683 29

Infections caused by Actinomyces organisms have been demonstrated to occur in association with IUD use. Uterine actinomycosis infection is usually superficial, but it is potentially invasive. It may prove fatal. When Actinomyces is detected in a vaginal Papanicolaou smear, establishment of the correct diagnosis followed by IUD removal and appropriate antibiotic therapy are recommended. A case history is presented of a 28 year old woman who had been using an IUD and who had systemic Actinomyces infection and a brain abscess develop several years after removal of her uterus and fallopian tubes. The woman was referred to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1977 for evaluation of headaches and grand mal seizures. 4 years earlier, in 1973, she had been seen at another hospital with a recent weight loss of 18 kg. She was found to have a tubo-ovarian abscess, for which she underwent a hysterectomy, bilateral salpingectomy, and unilateral oophorectomy. At the time of surgery, an IUD was in place. A histopathological diagnosis of botryomycosis tubo-ovarian abscess was made on submitted tissues. She received no antibiotic therapy. In 1975, pulmonary infiltrates developed that were attributed to bronchopneumonia. She was treated with a short course of tetracycline hydrochloride. Later that year she was thought to have sarcoidosis and was treated for 1 year with several doses of prednisone. Clinically, her condition remained stable until March 1977, when a pyogenic subcostal abscess was drained. In July 1977, she had headache, dizziness, generalized seizures, and an incomplete right homonymous hemianopsia develop. A craniotomy for excision and drainage of an abscess was performed. The presence of Actinomyces israelii in brain tissue was confirmed by direct immunoflourescence using specific antiserum. It was confirmed that Actinomyces had been present at the time of her 1st surgical procedure. She was treated with high doses of intravenous penicillin G potassium for the first 4 weeks, followed by lower doses of oral penicillin V potassium for an additional 15 months. She recovered completely, except for a persistent right homonymous hemianopsia. The case illustrates that systemic dissemination and potentially life threatening complications of uterine actinomycosis can occur if the infection is unrecognized and/or inadequately treated.
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PMID:Systemic Actinomyces infection. A potential complication of intrauterine contraceptive devices. 712 Jun 9


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