Neurology
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Of 421 veterans who had penetrating brain wounds in Vietnam 15 years ago, 53% had posttraumatic epilepsy, and one-half of those still had seizures 15 years after injury. The relative risk of developing epilepsy dropped from about 580 times higher than the general age-matched population in the first year to 25 times higher after 10 years. ⋯ Seizure frequency in the first year predicted future severity of seizures. Phenytoin therapy in the first year after injury did not prevent later seizures.
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Case Reports
Guillain-Barré syndrome after epidural anesthesia: direct nerve root damage may trigger disease.
Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) appeared in four patients 1 to 2 weeks after epidural anesthesia. In all patients, clinical diagnosis was confirmed by CSF findings and nerve conduction velocity studies. Although epidural anesthesia has not been listed as an antecedent event in GBS, evidence for the relationship has been previously reported. Interaction between the anesthetic agents and peripheral nervous system myelin or local trauma to roots may initiate a cascade of immunologic events that result in the demyelinating neuropathy.