Polineuropathy

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The knowledge of heavy drinking and dependence on working behaviour is known and reflect the general community opinion and therefore is known in its more general and/or extreme manifestations (weekend deaths, dementia, polineuropathies). Less known and rarely measured are alcohol effects in heavy drinkers who have a high level of tolerance and only show manifestations which for a long time can be considered normal or seen as subjective peculiarities. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: It is only in presence of serious accidents or dependence reactions that the drinking habit becomes evident...

Parasympathetic function and plasma hPP response to a protein rich meal were evaluated in 105 insulin non-dependent diabetic patients: 20 with autonomic neuropathy (group A), diagnosed by Clonidin test; 35 patients with neurophysiological evidence of polyneuropath (group B); 30 patients with autonomic neuropathy and polineuropathy (group C), and 20 patients without any sign of neuropathy (group D). Plasma hPP levels were determined by RIA using an anti-hPP antiserum, kindly provided by Prof. S. R. Bloom (Hammersmith Hospital, London)...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Stavudine (d4T) has shown a favourable short and long-term tolerability profile. Nevertheless, its usage is currently decreasing due to some safety concerns. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of d4T low-dose-based regimens. PATIENTS AND METHOD: This was a multicenter and retrospective review chart of patients receiving standard doses of d4T for > or = 6 months (weight > 60 kg: 40 mg/12 h; weight < 60 kg: 30 mg/12 h) and having undetectable viral load for at least 3 months before the d4T dose reduction (weight > 60 kg: 30 mg/12 h; weight < 60 kg: 20 mg/12 h)...

Diabetic neuropathy is most common chronic complication of diabetes mellitus. It is responsible for substantial morbidity, increased mortality and impaired quality of life. Patogenesis of diabetic neuropathy is complex. Chronic hyperglycemia is a major factor induces nerve fibers injury. High level of glucose stimulate the polyol pathway causing osmotic stress and enhance reactive oxygen species generation, as well as it play an important role in diabetic angiopathy development. Distal symmetric polineuropathy is most common type of diabetic neuropathy...

The Guilllain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute predominantly demyelinating polyneuropathy. In many cases GBS is preceding by infection, immunization, surgery or trauma. Although there are a few reports of GBS after head trauma, there is no report of this syndrome after brachial plexus injury. We report on a 51 years-old man who presented GBS fifteen days after a brachial plexus trauma. The polineuropathy resolved completely in a few weeks. We believe that GBS was triggered by the trauma that evoked an immune mediated disorder producing inflammation and demyelination of the peripheral nerves...

IFN-alpha maybe stimulate to synthesis of autoantibodies which damaging of myelin sheath at peripheral neurons. We report the patient, man, with hepatitis C infection who was treated with peginterferon alfa-2a by one month and next with peginterferon alfa-2b by 3 months in combination with ribavirin. We observed paresis of hands and legs in fourth months of treatment. This patient's dust of difficulty with walking. In EMG investigation was detected demyelin damage of sensor motor nerves. These changes were on whole length or in distal part of neuron...

AIM: Neurogenic low urinary tract dysfunctions unresponsive to medical and conservative therapy are difficult to manage. Nowadays they can be treated with Sacral Nerve Stimulation (SNS), even if clinical experiences reported in literature are still limited. METHODS: We performed SNS in 6 patients with neurogenic bladder: 3 patients had incontinence-urgency (1 myelitis, 1 multiple sclerosis, 1 autonomic polineuropathy) and 3 patients had urinary retention (1 incomplete spinal cord lesion, 1 operation for discal hernia T5-T6, 1 hysterectomy)...

BACKGROUND: It is well known that intramammary arterial calcifications, diagnosed by mammography as a part of generalized diabetic macroangiopathy, may be an indirect sign of diabetes mellitus. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the incidence of intramammary arterial calcifications, the patient's age when the calcifications occur, as well as to observe the influence of diabetic polyneuropathy, type, and the duration of diabetes on the onset of calcifications, in comparison with nondiabetic women...

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic hypertrophic cranial pachymeningitis (IHCP) is a rare, poorly understood, inflammatory disease, usually involving the dura mater of skull base, tentorium, and falx, and presenting with headache, progressive cranial nerve palsies, and cerebellar dysfunction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In four patients, the diagnosis of IHCP has been made on the basis of extensive clinical, and radiological investigation, and confirmed by dural biopsy in three patients...

Peripheral distal neuropathy associated with hypoglycemia secondary to insulinoma is quite rare. So far, less than 40 cases have been reported in literature. In this report, we describe a 50-year-old patient with insulinoma-polineuropathy and neuropsychiatric symptoms, interpreted as temporal lobe epilepsy, over the preceding 7 years. Due to the variability of the clinical presentation, diagnostic mistakes are frequent, and diagnosis of insulinoma is often delayed. Thus, the hypoglycemic nature of neuropathy can be lately recognized...

In one of the most frequent MS demyelination patterns, IgG and complement are demonstrable on myelin surface. It is, probably, an antibody-mediated pattern of myelin damage, usually associated with acute MS, but, at times, observed even in chronic cases. This pattern of myelin damage is extremely similar to that observed in acute demyelinating inflammatory polineuropathies, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, and in acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a rare demyelinating disease usually occurring after a viral infection or vaccination...

INTRODUCTION: Oat (small) cell carcinoma is the type of tumour most frequently associated to neurologic paraneoplastic syndromes. It is usually located in the lungs although it has been described in some other locations. Cerebellar symptoms may appear alone, associated to anti Yo antibodies ( Breast and gynaecologic carcinomas), or as manifestation of a more generalized paraneoplastic encephalopathy, associated to signs and symptoms of some other neurologic systems affected. CASE REPORT: A 52 year old patient consulted due to a pancerebellar clinical picture, which started about two months before, and later associated to polineuropathy...

Sixty patients (51 women/9 men) with diagnosis of SLE were studied for finding out the frequency of nervous system involvement in SLE, the time of of appearance of neurological involvement after diagnosis establishing, the coexistence of the antiphospholipid syndrome, and the character of changes in MR, CT and CSF. Nervous system involvement was found in 40 cases (67%), with 34 cases (56%) had involvement of the CNS, 6 patients (10%) had symptoms of peripheral nervous system dysfunction, and 3 (5%) had involvement of both systems...

INTRODUCTION: Multiple symmetrical lipomatosis (LSM) is characterized by the development of symmetrical lipomas and is often associated with axonal polyneuropathy (PNP). Presentation is usually sporadic. Familial cases have been reported infrequently, with variable modes of inheritance. The pathogenesis is unknown. It has been related to mitochondrial cytopathy and alterations in lipid metabolism. OBJECTIVES: To establish clinico pathological correlation in our cases of familial presentation...

Guillain-Barré Syndrome is the most common form of polineuropathy. It is suggested that some infectious, immune and allergic factors are involved in developing the syndrome. "Kompot" or "Polish heroine", a domestic product, is produced from poppy straw or juice of poppy head (Papaver somniferum) and it is administered intravenously. "Kompot" shows variable contents of heroine, 6-MAM, 3-MAM, morphine, acetylo-codeine and codeine as well as papaverine, thebaine and narcotine. The case history of a young man dependent on "Polish heroine" who developed the Guillain-Barré Syndrome due to severe intoxication induced by home made heroine, barbiturates and benzodiazepines is described...

The course of chronic viral hepatitis C (CVH C) depends in large degree from on non-specific immunological response. Interferon-alpha 2a (IFN-alpha 2a) affects immunological responses including acute phase proteins. The aim of the study was to determine whether chronic hepatitis C affects acute phase proteins and whether treatment with interferon-alpha restores disturbed acute phase proteins concentrations. Concentrations of acute phase proteins were compared with aminotransferases activity, a standard indicator of hepatocyte damage...

The association of outlying peripheral neuropathy and inflammatory bowel disease is a rare fact leaving aside factors like the deficit of intestinal absorption of vitamins or the neurotoxicity of drugs employed for the treatment of the inflammatory bowel disease. We presented a series of four patients with this association, to whom a retrospective study was carried out. In all cases polineuropathy followed a course parallel to the inflammatory bowel disease, being acute and reversible in two cases. The polyneuropathy could be attributed to a deficit of vitamin B12 in one case and to metronidazole neurotoxicity in the other; in the remaining two cases the polineuropathy was chronic and no etiological factor could be found except for the own activity of the inflammatory bowel disease...

A case is reported of severe sensorimotor polineuropathy in primary hyperparathyreoidism caused by presence of parathyroid adenoma and cancer in a 63-years old man. The question is discussed of paraneoplastic syndrome.

Chronic demyelinating inflammatory polineuropathy (CIDP) is a disease which was recognized several years ago. However, the mechanism underlying its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Nevertheless, there are some clues which strongly suggest that it constitutes an autoimmune disease. Since 1992 we have studied 30 cases. All them were clinically assessed and submitted to laboratory investigations encompassing nerve conduction studies, sera proteins immunoelectrophoresis, spinal fluid analysis and sural nerve biopsies...

Rare neurological complication in course of severe acute pancreatitis was described. A 38-year old woman developed Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome ((MODS) and neurological complications such as transient encephalopathy and polineuropathy in a form of tetraplegy.