[Severe bouts of neuromyelitis optica: dramatic improvement after plasma exchanges]. / Poussées sévères de neuromyélite optique : efficacité spectaculaire des échanges plasmatiques.

Severe relapses are common in neuromyelitis optica (NMO). Plasma exchanges (PE) were successfully used to treat acute demyelinating relapses resistant to corticosteroids. However, little is known about PE efficiency in NMO relapses, particularly in relation with the presence or not of specific antibodies. We here report two patients with NMO (one seropositive and one seronegative) with dramatic improvement after PE on both the optical and spinal involvement.

[Clinical and tomographic aspects of 29 cases of phakomatosis in Guinea]. / Aspects clinique et scannographique de 29 observations de phacomatoses en Guinée.

The purpose of this report is to describe 29 cases of phakomatosis including 18 cases of tuberous sclerosis (Bourneville) and 11 cases of neurofibromatosis (von Recklinghausen) observed over a 10-year period at the Neurology Department of the University Hospital Centre in Conakry, Guinea. Findings during this period were consistent with those classically reported in the literature: high frequency of advanced skin lesions coalescing into massive tumours, occurrence of seizures of all types and development of a wide variety of complications as a result of late diagnosis. Our experience underscores the need for follow-up and surveillance of these patients by somatic studies based on neurological, ophthalmologic and tomographic data depending on clinical findings.