[Cerebral infarction after ovarian hyperstimulation in the era of thrombolysis]. / Infarctus cérébraux secondaires à une hyperstimulation ovarienne à l'ère de la thrombolyse.

Ischemic stroke is a very rare complication but classic ovarian hyperstimulation. We report the cases of three young women aged 35, 37 and 27 years. All three were victims of ischemic formed by proximal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery secondary to ovarian hyperstimulation. The first and the third had a proximal occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery occlusion and the second of the left middle cerebral artery. The last two have benefited from a patient intravenous thrombolysis. The first patient did not receive thrombolysis because it was out of time. Against by their evolution was different. The first has almost recovered its deficit, the second sequelae quite heavy after craniectomy and the third died despite her craniectomy.

[Lupus profundus and myelopathy]. / Lupus profond et myélopathie.

BACKGROUND: We report a case of myelopathy during the course of lupus profundus that is unique to our knowledge. CASE-REPORT: A 29-year-old woman had lupus profundus since 1999, initially associated with thrombopenia (28,000 platelets/mm3) treated with corticosteroids for 6 months. Several nodular eruptions occurred from 1999 to 2004. Antinuclear antibodies were positive at 1/320 to 1/640 and complement C4 fraction was low. While being treated with hydroxychloroquine for a recent flare-up of nodular lesions of lupus profundus, she complained of paraesthesia of the abdominal wall and of the upper and lower limbs, suggestive of a medullary lesion. MRI disclosed an image of acute myelitis at the level of the second cervical vertebra. High doses of corticosteroids were promptly administered intravenously (methylprednisolone bolus) followed by oral prednisone and hydroxychloroquine. Six months later the patient was free of neurologic or cutaneous symptoms. DISCUSSION: In the literature, systemic signs are rarely associated with lupus profundus and myelitis has never been reported. Lupus myelitis is a vascular and/or demyelinating and usually segmental lesion of the spinal cord. Neurologic symptoms are those of acute rather than chronic or recurrent transverse myelitis. The prognosis is poor with frequent and severe functional sequelae. Treatment is mainly based on high-dose systemic corticotherapy alone or combined with cyclophosphamide. Our patient responded favourably to early methylprednisolone bolus followed by oral corticosteroids and antimalarial treatment. CONCLUSION: Lupus profundus is classically of benign course with only cutaneous involvement, but it may sometimes be a sign of systemic lupus and in rare cases may be associated with severe complications.

Old microbleeds are a potential risk factor for cerebral bleeding after ischemic stroke: a gradient-echo T2*-weighted brain MRI study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: T2*-weighted gradient-echo MRI is known to detect old microbleeds (MBs), considered indicative of microangiopathy. MBs might be a potential risk factor for early cerebral bleeding (CB) after ischemic stroke. Therefore, we assessed the impact of MBs on the occurrence of CB after cerebral infarction. METHODS: We included prospectively stroke patients who had documented ischemic damage. The imaging protocol involved baseline CT scan, T2*-weighted gradient-echo MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, T2-weighted imaging, and magnetic resonance angiography and had to be performed within 24 hours after symptom onset. The assessment of CB with T2*-weighted gradient-echo sequence necessitated a focal area of signal loss either within the ischemic area revealed by diffusion-weighted imaging or remote from it. Old MBs were defined on T2*-weighted images as homogeneous rounded areas of signal loss without surrounding edema. CT scan was systematically repeated within the first week to verify CB as diagnosed by the T2* weighted sequence. RESULTS: One hundred patients (mean age, 60 +/- 13 years; range, 19 to 83 years; 58 men, 42 women) met the inclusion criteria. MBs were seen in 20 patients on T2*-weighted imaging. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age, diabetes, previous use of antithrombotic drugs, evidence of an atherothrombotic source of stroke, and lacunar infarct were significantly associated with MBs (P<0.0001). CB was diagnosed in 26 patients: at the acute stage by T2*-gradient echo sequence in 18 patients and with CT scan performed within the first week in 8 patients. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, diabetes, and MBs were considered significant and independent predictors of CB (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although the pathogenesis of CB after ischemic stroke is multifactorial, the increased observation of CB in patients with MBs suggests that the associated vascular vulnerability contributes to CB.

MRI of acute post-ischemic cerebral hemorrhage in stroke patients: diagnosis with T2*-weighted gradient-echo sequences.

The use of T2*-weighted sequences has been advocated for early differentiation between hematoma and ischemia in patients with acute stroke. Early hemorrhagic transformation of ischemic stroke is an adverse event which may occur under treatment and may impair the prognosis: our aim is to evaluate the ability of T2*-weighted gradient-echo sequence (T2* GRE) to detect post-ischemic cerebral hemorrhage. The imaging procedure included: (1) baseline CT scan at admission. (2) MRI performed within 24 h of therapy onset including: (a) dual fast spin echo T2 sequence, (b) axial isotropic echoplanar diffusion-weighted imaging sequence, (c) conventional T2* GRE, and (d) 3D TOF turbo MRA. Post-ischemic cerebral hemorrhage was diagnosed if T2* GRE detected a focal intraparenchymal area of signal loss. The diameter of this lesion had to be more than 5 mm in order to eliminate past microbleeds. (3) Patients who showed an early suspicion of bleeding on MRI promptly had a second CT scan, and, if this one was negative for bleeding, another CT scan was performed 1 day later. All the other patients had a control CT scan during the first week. Forty-five consecutive patients have been included. T2* GRE showed intracranial bleeding in seven. The diagnosis of post-ischemic cerebral bleeding was confirmed by CT in all patients. Control CT scans did not reveal any post-ischemic cerebral hemorrhage in patients with negative MRI. In one case, hemorrhage was seen earlier on MRI than on CT scan. In conclusion, T2* GRE appeared to be at least as efficient as CT scan in the detection of early post-ischemic cerebral hemorrhage.

Diffusion-weighted MRI in acute mutism.

Mutism defined as a complete loss of speech may be related to psychiatric or neurologic disorders. The ischemic stroke origins of mutism are often difficult to assess at the acute stage. Accordingly, the search for the underlying mechanism as the localization of the damages may be difficult by conventional radiological techniques. Diffusion-weighted (DWI) MRI may accurately identify patients with acute ischemic stroke and distinguish them from those who mimic acute stroke better than clinical and conventional neuroradiological methods. This report aims to demonstrate the utility of DWI-MRI in the diagnosis of acute mutism.