Showing papers on "Myelitis published in 1985"

Cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus ascending myelitis in a patient with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Abstract: Progressive ascending myelitis was the presenting feature of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in a homosexual man who also had Kaposi's sarcoma, Pneumocystis pneumonia, and disseminated cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection. Neuropathological studies showed profuse cytomegalic cells throughout the brain and spinal cord, but no inflammatory response. At postmortem examination, CMV and herpes simplex virus, type 2 (HSV-2), were recovered from multiple sites throughout the central nervous system (CNS). HSV-2 was isolated from the anus, but from no other extraneural site; in contrast, pathology typical of CMV was also seen in the liver, gastrointestinal tract, adrenals, and lungs. Although histopathological evidence suggesting prior CMV infection has been seen in the brains of AIDS patients, the virus has never been cultured from the CNS in these immunosuppressed hosts, nor has it been known to infect the spinal cord. The absence of an inflammatory response suggests that the pathogenesis of CNS viral infections is altered in AIDS patients. Evidence for CMV infection of the CNS in AIDS patients is no longer circumstantial.

A new compllication of AIDS Thoracic myelitis caused by herpes simplex virus

Abstract: Progressive thoracic myelopathy occurred in a patient with AIDS Concurrent opportunistic infections included disseminated systemic cytomegalovims, aspergillosis, and cutaneous herpes simplex virus (HSV) At autopsy, immune stains indicated that the myelopathy was caused by HSV type 2 infection of the spinal cord

Lupoid sclerosis: a possible pathogenetic role for antiphospholipid antibodies

Abstract: The case of a 45-year-old woman is described who developed transverse myelitis over a one-year period. Serological tests suggested a lupus-like illness. Antibodies to cardiolipin of the IgM class were detected in high titres in her serum. These may have played a part in the pathogenesis of her disease.

Equine herpesvirus type 1 abortion in an onager and suspected herpesvirus myelitis in a zebra.

Abstract: IN FEBRUARY 1984 at the National Zoological Park (NZP) in Washington, DC, a male onager fetus (Equus hemionus onager) was aborted after approximately 10 months of gestation. At necropsy, sanguinous cavitary effusions, pleuropulmonary petechiae, splenomegaly, and white spots on the liver were seen. Histologie examination of the tissues indicated necrosis of the liver (Fig 1) and splenic white pulp (Fig 2), with intranuclear inclusion bodies in hepatocytes (Fig 1, inset) and in splenic lymphocytes. The inclusion bodies also were in cells of the bronchioles, thymic medulla, and adrenal cortex, but not in the placenta. The onager dam of the fetus had not been exposed directly to domestic horses nor had she been vaccinated against equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). She originally came from the west coast and previously had 4 healthy foals while at the NZP Conservation and Research Center (CRC), in Front Royal, Va. The onager dam, the sire of the fetus, and 2 herdmates had been brought to NZP grounds from CRC 4 months before the abortion. Cytopathic virus isolates recovered from the lung, liver, and spleen of the aborted onager fetus were identified as EHV-1 on the basis of virus neutralization by rabbit antiserum to EHV-1 stock virus.^ The isolates were serotyped as the abortogenic subtype-1 on the basis of their antigenic reactivity pattern with a panel of EHV-1 subtype-specific monoclonal antibodies.^ A subtype-specific monoclonal antibody (16H9) that reacted with 10 epizootiologically nonrelated equine isolates of EHV-1 did not react with the virus isolated from the onager. The endonuclease cleavage patterns indicated that the virus isolated from the onager fetus had a unique restriction profile that was not seen in the DNA of >200 epizootiologically nonrelated horse isolates of EHV-1 (Fig 3).^ One week after the onager abortion, a 9-month-old male zebra {Equus burchelli), located in a pen adjacent to the onagers, developed weakness, posterior ataxia, and partial rectal prolapse. The zebra was leukopenic and developed moderate dehydration. He was treated with corticosteroids, antibiotics, and fluids and the rectal prolapse was repaired surgically. After one week, the neurologic deficit improved, but the zebra developed cystitis associated with beta-hemolytic streptococcus, which responded to trimethoprim and ampicillin therapy. The zebra was clinically healthy one month after the onset of illness. A tentative diagnosis of herpesvirus myelitis was made on the basis of the clinical features of the zebra's illness and the zebra's juxtaposition to the onager mare that aborted. The onager dam and sire of the aborted fetus, and the zebra with

Neuromyelitis optica: two new cases and review of the literature.

Abstract: The clinical features of two recent cases of neuromyelitis optica are reviewed, along with 43 cases from the literature. Severe bilateral visual impairment, thoracic myelitis, prodromal symptoms suggesting a viral syndrome, and moderate pleocytosis of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were characteristic. Respiratory failure developed in 22% of the cases. Seventy percent of patients improved neurologically, 14% had a poor neurological outcome, and 16% died in the acute stages. Predictors of a poor outcome were older age, marked CSF pleocytosis, and severe myelitis. Forty-two percent of patients had a recurrence of demyelinating disease after initial recovery, suggesting a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Fifty-eight percent of patients had a self-limited monophasic illness, consistent with a post-infectious encephalomyelitis. No clear predictors of patients at risk for recurrence were identified. CSF oligoclonal bands were absent in three patients with information available.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for radiation myelitis.

Abstract: Radiation therapy may damage healthy tissues adjacent to tumor. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is useful in treating soft tissue and osteoradionecrosis. In addition, HBO has been recommended to treat radiation-induced myelitis. We used radiation to induce a predictable myelitis in the spinal cords of rats who were randomized into treatment (HBO) and control groups 8 wk after irradiation. Serial neurologic examination showed no benefit or harm as a result of HBO. This small pilot study did not demonstrate any clinically significant benefit of HBO for radiation myelitis in rats.

A case of transverse spinal cord syndrome following contamination of a peridural catheter

Abstract: Two weeks after removal of a peridural catheter a transverse lesion of the cord with paraplegia developed. At operation a paravertebral abscess, osteomyelitis of the lamina L2 and L3, and epidural abscess, a phlegmonous duritis and myelitis of the conus-cauda region by transmigration was found. The catheter had been in position for four days. The infection was caused by staphylococcus epidermidis. After laminectomy L2 and L3 as well as local and systemic application of antibiotics, according to the results of sensitivity tests, neurological deficits disappeared nearly completely.

Manifestations précoces de la syphilis neuro-méningée. Revue de la littérature à propos de 3 formes graves.

Abstract: We report 3 cases of severe syphilitic neuro-meningitis during the secondary stage: acute transverse dorsal myelitis with permanent paraplegia in a 17 year old teenager (case no. 1), uveo-meningitis with intracranial hypertension and diminished vision in a 52 year old woman (case no. 2), lower medulla lesion in a 46 year old man (case no. 3). The diagnosis was based upon highly positive serological tests for syphilis, associated with a compatible clinical context and meningitis in CSF specimens. Treatment was successful in cases nos. 2 and 3, unsuccessful in case no. 1 due to the irreversible character of the medullar lesions. Based on these 3 cases, the following points are discussed: the relatively atypical clinical character in the current context, the difficulties of the diagnosis, and the treatment regimens recommended for neurological syphilis. Despite the rarity of such cases, their extreme severity early in the secondary stage strongly implies the necessity for prevention by detecting and treating early syphilis. Attention is drawn upon the importance of doing serological tests for syphilis when presented with any atypical neurological situation.

[Multiple sclerosis and Basedow disease, a more than coincidental association?].

Abstract: Two young women with Graves' disease and marked exophthalmus developed cervical myelitis. Besides showing similar clinical symptoms, both were found to be HLA type DR 4. The possibility of a significant association of autoimmune diseases of the thyroid and the CNS is discussed.