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Query: UMLS:C0085584 (encephalopathy)
 18,178 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 67-year-old, non-alcoholic Japanese female case with liver cirrhosis, in the course of admission due to ascites and rupture of the rectal varix, was affected by an unusual type of acute progressive encephalopathy, presenting inattentiveness and slurred speech as initial symptoms. Her consciousness was increasingly clouded. Variable symptoms such as saccadic eye movement, nystagmus, weakness, hyperreflexia, dysmetria, adiadochokinesis and painful dysesthesia were also noted. Laboratory examination disclosed abnormal liver functions, hyponatremia, respiratory alkalosis and normal blood ammonia. Cerebrospinal fluid was xanthochromic and contained slightly increased protein. On CT scan, bilateral symmetrical low density areas were demonstrated in the diencephalon, brainstem and cerebellum. A week after the onset, she was comatose with rigidity of the extremities. Hyperbilirubinemia and severe hyponatremia developed. On the second CT, low density areas extended to the cerebral deep white matter. Her respiration became irregular, and she expired 16 days after the onset. Autopsy disclosed edematous lesions with dark brown discoloration in the medial basal ganglia, ventral diencephalon and mesencephalic tegmentum. Less severely affected lesions with pale yellow discoloration extended into the cerebral white matter, pontine and medullar tegmentum and cerebellar dentate nuclei. In the central lesions, diapedesis of erythrocytes and serum-plasma was marked, with necrosis of the neurons. In the peripheral lesions, diapedesis of less proteinaceous fluid was noted, with less severe neuronal damages. Neither capillary prominence nor gliosis was remarkable. The clinical and pathological features of the present case bore some similarity to those of Wernicke's and Leigh's encephalopathies. However, the patient's age, habitus or clinical course was atypical for the latter.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Acute encephalopathy with symmetrical, widespread, edematous and necrotic lesions--an autopsy case report]. 280 34

Hashimoto encephalopathy (HE) is characterized by heterogeneous neurological symptoms. HE is diagnosed based on three criteria-the presence of antithyroid antibodies, neurological symptoms from the cerebrum and/or cerebellum, and a positive response to immunotherapy. We clinically analyzed 18 patients (3 men, 15 women; age range, 38-81years) diagnosed with HE in our hospital from May 2013 to January 2016. Eleven patients showed sensory abnormalities such as strong pain, deep muscle pain, dysesthesia, paresthesia, or neuralgia. Surprisingly, the majority of the pain was distributed in a manner that was not explainable anatomically. Seventeen patients showed motor disturbances, such as weakness, paresis of extremities, or dexterity movement disorder, and eight patients showed give-way weakness, which is disruption of continuous muscle contraction. Other symptoms indicative of brain-related anomalies such as tremor, dystonia, involuntary movements, cerebellar ataxia, parkinsonism, memory loss, and chronic fatigue were also seen. In most patients, such motor, sensory, or higher brain functions were markedly improved with immunosuppressive therapies such as prednisolone, azathioprine, or immunoadsorption therapy. Although give-way weakness and anatomically unexplainable pain are typically considered as being psychogenic in origin, the presence of these symptoms is indicative of HE. HE exhibits diffuse involvement of the entire brain and thus, these symptoms are explainable. We propose that physicians should not diagnose somatoform disorders without first excluding autoimmune encephalopathy.
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PMID:[Clinical Features and Treatment of Hashimoto Encephalopathy]. 2766 88