Bmc Neurol
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Studies report rates of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in spinal cord injury (SCI) range between 10 and 60%. This broad estimate of MCI in SCI is most likely a result of: (i) inconsistent operationalization of MCI; (ii) heterogeneity among individuals with SCI; (iii) failure to account for MCI subtypes, thereby adding to the heterogeneity of samples; and, (iv) poor control for traumatic brain injury (TBI) that obscures differentiation of MCI attributable to TBI versus other factors. There is a paucity of longitudinal studies following the course of MCI in SCI, and none that account for multiple predictors of MCI, including interactions among predictors. ⋯ The prospective design will reveal change in cognitive functioning across time and unveil different outcome trajectories; thus addressing the lack of knowledge on trajectories of MCI and MCI subtypes in SCI. Through subtyping MCI, we hope to yield groups of cognitively impaired individuals with SCI that are potentially more homogenous and thereby stable and predictable. This is the first study to capture emergency department and acute care diagnostic evidence of mild TBI, which has been poorly controlled in previous studies. Our study will also be the first to distinguish the contribution of TBI from other factors to the development of MCI in individuals with SCI.
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Case Reports
Aspergillosis infection over 20 years: a case report of probable vascular invasion in central nervous system.
Aspergillosis infection of central nervous system (CNS) is rare and fatal. Diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis remains difficult. Aspergillosis of CNS can be an acute, subacute, or chronic onset, and the longest course of the disease was currently reported to be 4 years. Here, we report a case with recurrent headache over 20 years. ⋯ This report reveals that aspergillosis infection of CNS can last for more than 20 years and the major symptom is only intermittent throbbing headache in an immunocompetent patient. Vascular invasion is probably the mechanism of headache in our case with CNS aspergillosis infection. Performing high-throughput gene sequencing technology in CSF is important when the pathogen is not determined for the patients with suspected CNS infection.
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Case Reports
A rare case of anti-LGI1 limbic encephalitis with concomitant positive NMDAR antibodies.
N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) antibodies define the most prevalently recognized autoimmune encephalitis syndromes, while the simultaneous occurrence of both conditions has hardly been published before. ⋯ We report a rare case of LGI1-LE with overlapping symptoms and simultaneous positive NMDAR antibodies. It is necessary to evaluate the presence of NMDAR antibodies in certain LGI1-LE patients with unusual symptoms. However, caution should be exercised in interpreting the observation, given the fact of a single-case study.