Christos Paschalis

Two Episodes of Leukoencephalitis Associated with Recombinant Hepatitis B Vaccination in a Single Patient

Cases of central nervous system demyelination have been reported after recombinant hepatitis B vaccination, but no causal link has been clearly demonstrated. We present the first case report involving the occurrence of 2 episodes of leukoencephalitis in a previously healthy patient after vaccination and rechallenge with hepatitis B vaccine.

Carpal tunnel syndrome and hand configuration.

The likelihood that hand configuration is related to the development of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) was examined in this study. Based on neurophysiological criteria, 50 female subjects with CTS and 50 healthy female controls were selected and their external hand dimensions were measured. Our results showed that the palm length and third digit length were significantly shorter and the palm width larger in the subjects with CTS compared with controls. Regression analysis demonstrated that the hand ratio [(palm + third digit length)/palm width] was significantly correlated with median nerve conduction measurements. The hand ratio may be a simple and useful predictive measurement in determining the tendency for CTS.

Polymyositis and pregnancy: report of a case with three pregnancies

Reports of polymyositis and dermatomyositis during pregnacy are uncommon and the available data referring to the possibility of recurrence as well as to the risks for the pregnant woman and the fetus are limited. The association of polymyositis-dermatomyositis and pregnancy is very rare, and this has been attributed to the low percentage (14%) of cases in which the disease begins during the reproductive period of a woman’s life1; it is also probable that family planning policy after the clinical manifestation of the disease lowers the association of polymyositis-dermatomyositis and pregnancy. A 35 year old woman was admitted to our neurological department (May 1992) after 16 weeks of pregnancy, with a six week history of fatigue, myalgia, and proximal muscle weakness of all four limbs which was progressively worsening. At the age of 17 years she had been investigated (blood biochemistry, EMG, and muscle biopsy) at the University Department of Neurology in Athens where the diagnosis of polymyositis (first episode) was established. …

Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol use in high- and low-dose benzodiazepine users

Cigarette smoking, coffee and alcohol use were investigated prospectively in 37 high-dose benzodiazepine (BZD) regular users (HDRU), 87 low-dose BZD regular users (LDRU), 50 low-dose BZD occasional users (LDOU) and in 37 non-BZD users (control subjects). The frequency of smokers was significantly greater in the HDRU than in the other three groups studied. Also, the HDRU consumed a significantly greater number of cigarettes and dose of caffeine per day than the other subjects investigated. Also, alcohol dependence was significantly more frequent in the HDRU. Regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the BZD dose and both the cigarettes and the caffeine consumed per day. The findings suggest that BZD should be prescribed with caution in individuals who are heavy smokers or are consuming large amounts of coffee and alcohol.

Effects of short-term oral acitretin therapy on peripheral nerve function: A prospective neurological and neurophysiological study

The aim of the present prospective study was to substantiate possible side effects of short-term oral acitretin therapy (1 mg/kg/day) on peripheral nerve function of 13 patients with severe keratinization disorders. Clinical neurological examination before and 1 and 3 months after onset of treatment was unremarkable in all patients; however, a significant alteration of one or more neurophysiological, predominantly sensory, parameters was demonstrated in 3 out of 13 patients (23%) after 1 month and in 9 out of 13 (69%) after 3 months of oral acitretin therapy. These findings indicate that oral acitretin might be capable of causing a dysfunction of predominantly sensory nerve fibres in some individuals. Although in the investigated patients this dysfunction remained subclinical, it seems reasonable to suggest that neurological and neurophysiological evaluation of peripheral nerves should be added to the list of investigations that are routinely performed in patients receiving oral acitretin.

Sensorimotor polyneuropathy after a three-month oral acitretin therapy.

We report a patient with chronic plaque psoriasis who developed clinical and electrophysiologic features of polyneuropathy affecting motor and sensory fibers in upper and lower extremities after three months of treatment with oral acitretin. Drug withdrawal resulted in a complete clinical recovery and normalization of all electrophysiologic abnormalities within two months.

Peripheral sensory neuropathy associated with short-term oral acitretin therapy.

A 57-year-old female patient with widespread chronic plaque psoriasis and a 32-year-old male patient with severe oral lichen planus are reported, who developed sensory symptoms in the extremities 3 and 4 months after the onset of oral acitretin therapy, respectively. Both patients showed clinical and electrophysiological evidence of a sensory peripheral neuropathy, which completely resolved 2 and 2.5 years after discontinuation of oral acitretin administration, respectively.

NEUROPHYSIOLOGIC STUDIES IN PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE

The purpose of the study was to compare the electrophysiological parameters (nerve conduction studies and quantitative electromyography [EMG]) between patients with chronic peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and normal control subjects. Forty patients with PAD and 30 control subjects (40 legs) were evaluated clinically and electrophysiologically using previously described methods. The amplitude of compound muscle action potentials (CMAPs) and the motor conduction velocities (MCVs) of peroneal and tibial nerve for most patients with PAD were within normal limits but compared with those of the controls, it was found that the peroneal and tibial MCVs as well as the amplitude of sural nerve were significantly decreased. The EMG testing of patients with PAD and controls of the anterior tibialis and the gastrocnemius muscle did not show evidence of denervation or myopathic abnormalities. However, the mean amplitude and duration of both muscles were significantly larger compared with the controls. Routine electrophysiological studies are not the appropriate (sensitive enough) tests for detecting peripheral nerve or muscle dysfunction associated with PAD.

Stiff-person syndrome associated with oral isotretinoin treatment

We describe a patient with severe nodulocystic acne who developed disabling muscle stiffness and painful superimposed spasms of the neck, back and upper limbs 10 days after the onset of oral isotretinoin treatment. The muscle hyperactivity condition, which revealed the clinical and electromyographic features of the stiff-person syndrome, gradually resolved 2 weeks after drug withdrawal.

Effect of exercise on motor evoked potentials elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation in psychiatric patients.

Summary Under normal conditions, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation increase in amplitude if the subject exercises the examined muscle immediately before recording. The authors examined the effect of nonfatiguing exercise on the amplitude of MEPs on 42 psychiatric, medicated inpatients (14 with depression, 14 with schizophrenia, and 14 with mania) compared with 14 healthy control subjects. For each subject, a total of 50 baseline and 50 postexercise MEPs were recorded. The mean (± standard deviation) postexercise MEP facilitation, expressed as a percentage of mean baseline values, was significantly lower (p ≤ 0.02) in all three patient groups (148 ± 91% in the depressed, 107 ± 43% in the schizophrenic, and 143 ± 63% in the manic patients) compared with the control subjects (268 ± 223%). There was no clear evidence that psychotropic medication could be fully responsible for the modified MEP response to exercise, but the degree to which they were responsible is impossible to assess. These findings indicate that the reduced postexercise MEP facilitation is not related to any particular psychiatric illness, but rather that it represents a suppressed reaction of cortical excitability shared by patients with either depression, mania, or schizophrenia. The authors propose that, despite the lack of specificity, the study of postexercise MEP alterations could be useful in the neurophysiologic evaluation of motor cortex excitability in some psychiatric illnesses, except in those patients who may have diminished somatosensory input associated with voluntary muscle contraction resulting in decreased cortical excitability.