Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085584 (encephalopathy)
 18,178 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The patient, a 78-year-old Asian male, was brought to the hospital because of acute shortness of breath that had progressively worsened over the course of the day. He complained of a nonproductive cough and claudication after walking 1 block. His past medical history was significant for mild renal insufficiency (serum creatinine 1.5--2.0 mg/dl), the etiology of which was never explored. Although there was a recent history of mild to moderate hypertension, at presentation his blood pressure was noted to be 240/118 mm Hg in both arms. His physical exam at the time of admission was remarkable for grade II hypertensive retinopathy, an S4 gallop, periumbilical systolic bruits, audible femoral arterial bruits and absent distal lower extremity pulses. Initial complete blood count, serum electrolytes and cardiac enzymes (including lactate dehydrogenase) were normal. His blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine concentrations were 51 and 3.6 mg/dl, respectively, and his urinalysis showed 1+ protein (both by dipstick and sulfasalicylic acid) with a "benign" sediment (0--1 WBC/HPE, 1--2 RBCs/HPF) with occasional granular casts. His electrocardiogram, apart from demonstrating left ventricular hypertrophy with secondary ST-T wave abnormalities, showed no acute changes; his chest X-ray demonstrated cardiomegaly and pulmonary vascular congestion. He was intubated and subsequently treated with increasing parenteral doses of furosemide (40--240 mg) and a nitroglycerine drip (up to 15 mcg/min). Over the course of the first 48 h, his blood pressure was gradually lowered to 170/100 mm Hg. His urine output increased from 20 ml/h to 125/ml/h, and his respiratory status improved, allowing him to be extubated. In spite of adequate control of his blood pressure in the ensuing days (150--170/80--90 mm Hg), his renal function continued to deteriorate. Renal sonography (without Doppler) demonstrated a right kidney of 9.6 cm and a left kidney of 9.3 cm in length without evidence of hydronephrosis. Both kidneys were noted to be echogenic. Assays for antinuclear antibodies and antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibodies were negative, and the patient's serum complement levels were normal. For several days after his admission, his serum creatinine gradually rose to 10.7 mg/dl, and hemodialysis was initiated for uremic encephalopathy. Because of the high index of suspicion for renal artery stenosis as the case of both his hypertension and renal failure, a renal angiogram was performed. It revealed a 90% occlusion of the right renal artery with ostial involvement and a 70% occlusion of the left renal artery; both kidneys had poor distal renal vasculature and there was marked atherosclerotic disease of the aorta. After being hemodialyzed for 3 treatments, his renal function began to improve spontaneously. His serum creatinine returned to 3.4 mg/dl, and a subsequent 24-hour urine demonstrated a creatinine clearance of 20 ml/min and an excretion of 1.2 g of protein. Following his discharge from the hospital, his renal function remained unchanged for 3 years, and his blood pressure was easily controlled on monotherapy with a long-acting calcium channel blocker. He recently died from pneumonia.
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PMID:Atherosclerotic Renovascular Disease. 1186 67

A 39-year-old woman was admitted with somnolence, severe hypertension and thrombotic microangiopathy. Both malignant hypertension and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) were considered. Immediate therapy was instituted to treat both diseases because of severe clinical deterioration. Eventually, TTP was considered less likely due to the presence of grade IV hypertensive retinopathy (papilloedema and soft exudates) and a normal Von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease level. Differentiating TTP from malignant hypertension can be difficult as both diseases have similar clinical, laboratory and radiological features. In both diseases, hypertension, thrombotic microangiopathy and encephalopathy with white-matter lesions in the posterior regions of the brain may be apparent. Funduscopic abnormalities consistent with grade III and IV hypertensive retinopathy are rare in TTP, as are normal levels ofVon Willebrand factor-cleaving protease. Therefore, the diagnosis TTP was considered less likely and plasmapheresis was stopped. Hereafter, the laboratory values pointing towards haemolysis remained normal with adequate blood pressure control supporting the rejection of TTP as the cause of the symptoms.
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PMID:[Clinical reasoning and decision making in practice. A 39-year-old woman with somnolence, hypertension and haemolysis]. 1655 46

The posterior/potentially reversible encephalopathy syndrome is a unique syndrome encountered commonly in hypertensive encephalopathy. A 13-year-old boy presented with of intermittent high grade fever, throbbing headache and non-projective vomiting for 5 days. The patient had a blood pressure of 120/80 mmHg but fundoscopy documented grade 3 hypertensive retinopathy. The patient improved symptomatically following conservative management. However, on the 5(th) post-admission day headache reappeared, and blood pressure measured at that time was 240/120 mmHg. Neuroimaging suggested white matter abnormalities. Search for the etiology of secondary hypertension led to the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma. Repeated MRI after successful surgical excision of the tumor patient showed reversal of white matter abnormalities. Reversible leucoencephalopathy due to pheochromocytoma have not been documented in literature previously.
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PMID:The posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome. 1881 Mar 59

Scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) occurs in 5-10% of SSc patients, who may present with an abrupt onset of hypertension, acute renal failure, headaches, fevers, malaise, hypertensive retinopathy, encephalopathy and pulmonary oedema. Patients at greatest risk of developing SRC are those with diffuse cutaneous or rapidly progressive forms of SSc, and treatment with a recently commenced high dose of corticosteroid. Laboratory tests may demonstrate hypercreatinaemia, microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia (MAHA), thrombocytopaenia and hyperreninaemia. Renal crisis is also linked to a positive ANA speckled pattern, antibodies to RNA polymerase I and II, and an absence of anti-centromere antibodies. Early, aggressive treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors has improved prognosis in SRC, although 40% of the patients may require dialysis, and mortality at 5 yrs is 30-40%. Median time to recovery is 1 yr, and typically occurs within 3 yrs. Prognosis is worse for males, but may not be related to corticosteroid use, presence of MAHA or severity of renal pathology. Modification of endothelin over-activity, which is implicated in the pathogenesis of SRC, may offer a future therapeutic approach.
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PMID:Renal complications and scleroderma renal crisis. 1948 21