Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
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Review Case Reports
Serotonin toxicity: a short review of the literature and two case reports involving citalopram.
The serotonin toxicity (ST) is a potentially life-threatening adverse drug reaction results from therapeutic drug use, intentional self-poisoning, or inadvertent interactions between drugs. ST can be caused by a single or a combination of drugs with serotonergic activity due to excessive serotonergic agonism on central nervous system and peripheral serotonergic receptors (monoamine oxidase inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, SSRIs, opiate analgesics, over-the-counter cough medicines, antibiotics, weight-reduction agents, antiemetics, antimigraine agents, drugs of abuse, H2-antagonist and herbal products). The serotonin toxicity is often described as a clinical triad of mental-status changes (agitation and excitement with confusion), autonomic hyperactivity (diaphoresis, fever, tachycardia, and tachypnea), neuromuscular abnormalities (tremor, clonus, myoclonus, and hyperreflexia) and, in the advanced stage, spasticity; not all of these findings are consistently present. In this article, we describe two cases of ST due to interaction between Citalopram and two CYP2D6 inhibitors: Cimetidine and Topiramate and their clinical resolution after treatment discontinuation.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of LEP and QST and their contribution to standard sensory diagnostic assessment of spinal lesions: a pilot study.
This study evaluates the additional use of laser-evoked potentials (LEP) and quantitative sensory testing (QST) in the sensory assessment of spinal lesions. Four consecutive patients with spinal lesions verified by MRI and clinical evidence for mild spinothalamic tract involvement were included. The electrophysiological workup [somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) and LEP] was compared to QST. ⋯ Congruent results between SEP and both LEP and QST were obtained in 3/8 examinations. LEP detected more deficits than any single QST parameter or their combination but additional QST allows the detection of positive sensory signs. The diagnostic gain of SEP was limited.
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Comparative Study
Exploring neuropathic symptoms in a large cohort of Italian patients with different peripheral nervous system diseases.
Neuropathic pain is a disabling symptom frequently reported by patients with neuropathies. Pain-questionnaires are the best way to investigate it. Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) questionnaire specifically assesses the different symptoms of neuropathic pain. ⋯ The majority of our patients (88.6%) presented paresthesia/dysesthesia. The results of our study point out the difference in the occurrence of the painful symptoms. A scale able to discriminate distinct types of neuropathic pain may provide clinicians with adequate therapeutic choices in the daily practice.
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Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndromes (RCVS) comprise a group of disorders characterized by prolonged, but reversible vasoconstriction of the cerebral arteries, usually associated with acute-onset, severe, recurrent headaches, with or without additional neurological signs and symptoms. Various complications of this condition have been observed, such as cortical subarachnoid hemorrhages (cSAH), intracerebral hemorrhages, reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy, ischaemic strokes and transient ischaemic attacks. ⋯ We report an illustrative case of a woman affected by a small cSAH, associated to RCVS, after elective triplet cesarean delivery. To our knowledge, this is the first case of cSAH associated to RCVS after a triplet pregnancy.
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Platypnea-orthodeoxia is a rare syndrome characterized by dyspnea and deoxygenation induced by a change to a sitting or standing from a recumbent position. It is the result of posturally accentuated intracardiac or pulmonary right-to-left shunt leading to arterial oxygen desaturation. ⋯ To remove a life-threatening condition for the patient and in order to develop the normal rehabilitation project, that was stopped by the platypnea-orthodeoxia syndrome, the patient fastly underwent to percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale. The stabilization of oxygen arterial saturation with postural changes and the disappearance of symptoms of POS allowed to develop the rehabilitation project with progressive neurological improvement.