Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0264733 (ventricular dilatation)
 2,163 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 12-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital in May 1990. Since two years previously, he became restless and could not adapt himself to his new school mates and teacher. He came to refuse going to school, and his intellectual performance rapidly deteriorated, thereafter. During the following two years, he gradually became mutic and incontinent with dystonic involuntary movements, and was admitted to our hospital. Examination revealed melanoderma, mutism, dementia and grossly normal visual and auditory system except for bilateral optic atrophy. Volitional movements were severely limited because of marked truncal and extreme dystonia and spastic paresis. Urinary 17-KS and 17-OHCS were decreased. Serum cortisol did not increase normally on rapid ACTH test. Very-long-chain fatty acids in serum were increased. Serial CTs and MRI demonstrated marked ventricular dilatation and diffuse white-matter lesions involving the frontal lobes, corpus callosum, internal capsules, and less markedly parieto-occipital regions with slight calcification in the optic radiations. Those in the frontal lobes had been visualised in CTs taken 18 months after the onset. School refusal, the initial symptoms of the patient, is one of serious socioeducational problems in Japan. While the majority of children with school refusal might be of non-organic affections, those with apparent mental deterioration and behavioral abnormalities should undergo non-invasive CT or MRI evaluation during the early stage of the disorder. And if diffuse white matter lesions is suggested even in the frontal lobe, the possibility of adrenoleuko-dystrophy should be considered.
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PMID:[A case of adrenoleukodystrophy having progressed from the frontal lobes]. 142 38

This is the report of two cases of infantile spasms, manifesting transient brain shrinkage in computerized tomography (CT) after ACTH treatment. ACTH was given for 8 weeks to a 8-months-old Japanese girl with infantile spasms. First CT performed at 2 weeks after the final ACTH injection, displayed moderate brain shrinkage. Second CT at 4 months showed marked diminution of the shrinkage. ACTH was also given for 8 weeks to a 14 months old Japanese boy with infantile spasms. First CT, just before ACTH treatment, showed mild cortical atrophy, the second at 7 days after the final ACTH injection revealed marked brain shrinkage and moderate ventricular dilatation, and the third at 2 months, disclosed mild improvement of the shrinkage. ACTH or corticoateroid has widespread effects on the developing nervous system. In animal experiments, ACTH or steroids interfere with brain growth of young rats. CT findings of transient brain shrinkage in a child with infantile spasms might suggest that intensive treatment with ACTH or steroids in infancy interferes with brain growth as seen in the results of animal experiments.
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PMID:Transient brain shrinkage in infantile spasms after ACTH treatment. Report of two cases. 625 9

Two hundred eighty six infants with Down syndrome have been studied. Infantile spasms have been identified in nine of them, in which background, EEG pattern and its evolution, modalities of treatment and its effects, neuroimaging and development course have been revised. None of these patients had either familiar or personal pathological antecedents. The pattern in the first EEG made was hypsarrhytmic in all cases except one which showed a multifocal paroxystical activity, with intermittent and bilateral bursts of spike-waves. The treatment first used was ACTH in four cases, valproate in three cases and phenobarbital in two cases (one of these associated with nitrazepam). The ACTH treatment was effective in seven infants, either was the first or the second choice. An infant in whom the first treatment with ACTH was not successful, responded to the association with valproate+clonazepam. One patient treated initially with phenobarbital+nitrazepam, having no response to different prescriptions, responded finally to the association of carbamacepin+vigabatrin. The first treatment with valproate or phenobarbital had no effect in all patients. The EEG pattern improved in all cases just after the treatment response. Normal tracing was found for a period of two months to three years. Cranial TC was performed to three infants showing one of them a discrete ventricular dilatation and periventricular calcifications that suggested tuberous sclerosis. It is important to point out that, although the good effect of therapy and EEG pattern normalization, the development is below what had been expected in children with Down syndrome. Behavioral problems have been found in seven (77.7%) of these children.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Infantile spasms in children with Down's syndrome]. 749 84