[Guillain-Barré syndrome caused by intravesical instillation of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin]. / Bacillus Calmette­Guérin intravesicalis instillációja által okozott Guillain­Barré-szindróma.

Introduction - Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. In the vast majority of patients, 1-4 weeks before the onset of GBS-related symptoms, an event such as upper respiratory tract or gastrointestinal tract infection, surgical intervention or vaccination is present. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of GBS that occurred after intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy in the absence of tuberculosis or any other infection in the English literature.
Case report – A 65-year-old male patient, who had no systemic disorders except hypertension and coronary artery disease, underwent transurethral resection of a bladder tumour further to imaging studies investigating macroscopic haematuria. A pathologic examination revealed a non-muscle-invasive high-grade (pT1HG) transitional cell carcinoma. Immediately after the fourth cycle of intravesical BCG, which was administered 2 months after surgery, the patient experienced numbness and weakness in his lower and upper extremities, respectively. There were no signs or symptoms related to an acute cranial pathology or infectious disease. Nerve conduction studies, which were carried out on the 7th day after the onset of the neurologic symptoms, revealed a demyelinating sensorimotor polyneuropathy with mild secondary axonal damage in upper and lower limbs with a sural sparing pattern.
Conclusion - Without tuberculosis infection, GBS can occur secondary to increased immune response and antibodies triggered by intravesical BCG therapy. However, considering the worldwide use of BCG vaccination and thousands of intravesical BCG therapies, this is a very rare adverse effect. 

[Cerebellar antibodies in post-stroke sera of acute ischemic stroke patients]. / Kisagyi antitestek akut ischaemiás stroke-on átesett betegek szérumában.

Background and purpose:

Although serum anti-neuronal antibodies are found in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients, it is not completely clear whether they are already present before the cerebrovascular event or emerge thereafter. 

Sera of 21 consecutive first-ever AIS patients were collected within the first day of AIS (baseline), as well as 1 and 6 months after AIS. Well-characterized and novel anti-neuronal antibodies were investigated by cell-based assays, immunoblotting and indirect immunohistochemistry.

None of the AIS sera collected at different time points showed well-characterized antibodies. In 7 patients, 1- and 6-month sera (but not baseline sera) showed IgG mostly reacting with soma and dendrites of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Antibody-positive patients did not differ in terms of clinical and etiological features.

Our results provide evidence for the antibody-triggering action of AIS. Although anti-cerebellar antibodies are not associated with the severity of stroke, they may potentially contribute to chronic post-stroke complications and disability.

Does pandemic change the ocrelizumab therapy approach? Yes. - Single center ocrelizumab experience.

Background and purpose: We know that treatment algorithms have changed in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) practice during the pandemic. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether there was a change in the patient population for ocrelizumab (OCR) treatment during the pandemic period, the treatment compliance of the patients, and the course of the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) disease in the patients who received OCR. Methods: Our study was designed as a survey study. A questionnaire was sent to the patients assessing whether they had COVID-19 infection, whether they received treatments regularly before and after the pandemic, vaccination status and duration of OCR treatment. Demographic characteristics of the patients, treatments they used before, MS type, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores were determined from the database. Each group of OCR started before pandemic and OCR started after pandemic were compared. Results: We included into the study 86 patients who started OCR before pandemic period and 75 patients who started OCR after the pandemic. Demographic features were similar. EDSS scores were higher in the group that started OCR treatment before the pandemic (p<0.0001). The patients who started OCR treatment before the pandemic had more disruptions than which started during the pandemic (p<0.0001). No correlation was found between the duration of OCR treatment and COVID-19 infection (p=0.940). We observed that the patients who had severe COVID-19 infection had received OCR therapy for a longer period. Conclusion: This retrospective study concluded that the OCR treatment approach in our center had changed during the pandemic period. OCR therapy was started in patients with less disability. The possible reasons for this situation include the proven relationship between high EDSS and serious COVID-19 infection, and that the patients who have higher EDSS score had troubles in reaching health institutions during the pandemic. The result that patients with severe COVID-19 infection received OCR treatment for a longer period necessitates more evidence-based research to investigate the relationship between treatment duration and disease severity.