Adjaratou Dieynabou Sow

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMO-SD) in a Sub-Saharan Africa country: A preliminary study of sixteen senegalese cases

BACKGROUND Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. In Sub-Saharan Africa, publications are rare and deal with isolated cases. Our goal was to analyze the characteristics of NMO spectrum disorders in a Senegalese cohort compiled in Dakar. PATIENTS AND METHOD This was a retrospective descriptive study conducted at the Neurology Department of Fann Teaching Hospital. We included all patients with NMO-SD according to the 2014 diagnostic criteria. RESULTS Sixteen patients were enrolled, 4 men and 12 women with an average age of 30 years. Ten patients (62.5%) presented an acute myelopathy associated with retrobulbar optic neuritis and 5 (31.25%) had isolated spinal cord injury. Spinal MRI showed abnormal cervical (6 patients), dorsal (4 patients), bulbar-cervical (3 patients) or cervico-dorsal (2 patients) signal extended (≥3 vertebral segments) of the spinal cord. Visual evoked potentials (VEP) showed demyelinating optic nerve involvement in 8 patients. Ten patients were positive to AQP-4 IgG. Systemic corticosteroid therapy was the rule in all patients, associated with azathioprine in 10 of them. The clinical course at 3 months was predominantly favourable (10 patients). CONCLUSION This cohort is the first one compiled in Dakar. African multicentric epidemiological studies are needed.

Magnesium and calcium reduce severity of spatial memory impairments in kainate mouse model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Calcium and magnesium are divalent multipotent ions playing a major role in metabolism, excitability and neuroglial plasticity. Because of these multiple properties, their deficiency induces complex brain processes leading to acute or even lasting disorders in excitability and neural networks. These ions are usually prescribed in clinical contexts of neuronal hyperexcitability such as preeclampsia and chronic stress. Our aim was to evaluate whether magnesium at 20 mg/kg and calcium at 100 mg/kg could improve the memory prognosis in the kainic model of mesial temporal epilepsy in mice. The animals were organized into 6 groups: control group (without kainate), reference group (GR) without administration of ions, groups treated with magnesium or calcium from the third day (respectively G1m, G1c), groups treated with magnesium or calcium from the third week (respectively G2m, G2c). The mice treated by ions performed better than GR mice, but magnesium was more effective. Memory (short term-long term) was differently affected by kainate or improved by magnesium-calcium. In addition, magnesium demonstrated an increasing therapeutic effect over time while calcium had an acute and apparently decreasing action in the G1c group that received calcium early.

Direct Complication of HIV on the Brain: A Case About a Recurrence of Stroke

Only 1% to 5% of HIV patients who develop a direct complications following. HIV infection can result in stroke via several mechanisms, including opportunistic infection, vasculopathy, cardioembolism, and coagulopathy. It is a rare association, here we report the case of a woman of 69 years immunocompromised who Stroke diagnosed without another etiology found despite an etiologic assessment of the most common causes in our context. The patient had received treatment with an overall favorable evolution. Before a stroke recurrent of unknown etiology should think of HIV as this will allow appropriate treatment. The mechanism can be related with syphilis (Vasculitis) or by direct action of the virus on the central nervous system.

Occurrence of Biermer's Disease After 8 Years of Follow-Up of Myasthenia Gravis: About a Clinical Case

The auto immune myasthenia comorbidity and Biermer disease is less documented and rarely brought in the literature. We bring back the observation of a Senegalese patient hospitalized in our department of Neurology at Fann hospital (Dakar). It concerned a patient aged 58 years followed up for auto-immune myasthenia to antibodies anti-receptors of acetylcholine Ac RACH since 8 years and having a benefit of recurrent blood transfusion with a blood group A rhesus positive. He was received on neurologic consultation for a tiredness associated to an effort dyspnea and a gastro esophageal reflux accompanied by vomiting. The interrogatory found palpitations which necessitated a hospitalization two month before. Physical examination had objective a myasthenia syndrome, an anemic syndrome on the other hand, sub icteric mucosa’s were noted but no melanodermia no glossite. The rest of the physical examination was without particularity. The diagnoses of the Biermer illness was carried out in front of the anemic syndrome, the chronicity of the symptomatology without notion of fluctuation and the complementary exams having as objective a low rate of hemoglobin and a deficit in vitamin B12. The origin auto-immune of this anemia was confirmed by the immunologic test which had put in evidence a high rate of anti-bodies anti- intrinsic factor. The patient benefited from a blood transfusion then a treatment from cobalamin (for life) was also installed associated to a symptomatic management of the patient. The evolution after 6 weeks of the treatment was favorable with a complete regression of the dyspnea, vomiting and the attenuation of the effort tiredness. Myasthenia gravis and Biermer disease comorbidity has to be discussed in front of every myasthenia patient presenting clinical signs of effort dyspnea to a chronic anemia because early diagnoses of this association of Biermer illness and myasthenia gravis favors a better prognosis and not to progress to the combined degeneration of the spinal cord. The autoimmune substratum of the mechanism of this comorbidity remains to be elucidated but in all cases multidisciplinary management is necessary.

Diagnosis Approach and Management of Rhombencephalitis: Literature Review

Rhombencephalitis refers to inflammatory diseases of the rhombencephalon. We present here a literature review of this pathology. It was originally described by Edwin Bickerstaff and Philip Cloake in 1951. The terms Rhombencephalitis and trunk encephalitis are interchangeable. It is a rare disease but potentially serious. The symptomatology is characterized, in some cases, by fever and alteration of consciousness, but also headache, nausea and vomiting sometimes. An involvement of the cranial nerves in the majority of the cases and or affected of the long ways. Paraclinically, cerebrospinal fluid and cerebral imaging can be normal in paraneoplastic causes or, on the other hand, be pathological in infectio-inflammatory causes. The etiologies are mainly distinguished in infectious, autoimmune and paraneoplastic pathologies. Treatment should be etiological by anti-infectives (antibiotics, antivirals, etc.) targeting curable germs such as listeria, mycobacterium tuberculosis or herpes, and/or symptomatic by corticosteroid or immunoglobulin IV. Rhombencephalitis is a rare nosological entity but is subject to severe neurological sequelae with a high mortality rate.