Pediatric neurology
-
Mortality in pediatric epilepsy is the subject of this review. Epilepsy in both adults and children increases the risk of premature death. Conditions that are comorbid with epilepsy may carry an increased mortality risk. ⋯ Cardiac and respiratory mechanisms for epileptic sudden death have been proposed. Reducing the number of seizures should reduce the risk for sudden death. Awareness of the increased risk for premature death associated with epilepsy may enhance patients' and parents' cooperation with therapy.
-
Pediatric neurology · Jul 2001
Case ReportsInvoluntary movements in infantile cobalamin deficiency appearing after treatment.
Involuntary movements may be a symptom in most infants who present with neurologic syndrome of infantile cobalamin (vitamin B12) deficiency. In this report, two infants with cobalamin deficiency are presented. These patients also developed a striking movement disorder that appeared a few days after treatment with intramuscular cobalamin. ⋯ The cause of involuntary movements that can appear rarely after treatment in infantile cobalamin deficiency is not known. Besides initial neurologic presenting symptoms of cobalamin deficiency, the occurrence of involuntary movements after treatment should also receive attention. This movement disorder may disappear spontaneously, or an additional treatment may be an alternative approach if the symptoms are severe.
-
Pediatric neurology · Apr 2001
Case ReportsPainful ophthalmoplegia with reversible carotid stenosis in a child.
Painful ophthalmoplegia in childhood has different causes. One is Tolosa-Hunt syndrome, in which a first episode may be difficult to diagnose because of its clinical similarity to ophthalmoplegic migraine. ⋯ These findings resolved in follow-up imaging. This report suggests that in the presence of painful ophthalmoplegia, magnetic resonance imaging detection of cavernous sinus inflammation can facilitate the diagnosis of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome when other causes are excluded.
-
Pediatric neurology · Apr 2001
Case ReportsAcute disseminated encephalomyelitis in autoimmune hemolytic anemia.
A 16-year-old female with chronic autoimmune hemolytic anemia is presented. She was diagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis by clinical findings and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the condition occurred after a systemic infection with Cryptococcus neoformans. Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy remarkably improved the patient's neurologic deficit and resolved abnormalities evidenced on MRI. To our knowledge, this report is the first of a pediatric patient with autoimmune hemolytic anemia complicated by acute disseminated encephalomyelitis that developed after an apparently successful treatment of cryptococcal meningitis.
-
Pediatric neurology · Nov 2000
Case ReportsMotor-evoked potentials in a child recovering from transverse myelitis.
We describe a 13-year-old female, with an inability to walk because of transverse myelitis, who demonstrated progressive recovery of both motor function and motor- evoked potentials (MEP). At 4 weeks after onset, amplitudes of MEP were decreased, latencies were prolonged, and cortical somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEP) were absent. ⋯ MEP and SEP recovery paralleled clinical recovery. MEP in response to transcranial magnetic stimulation may provide guidance regarding recovery from spinal cord disorders in children.