Catatonia in Dementia: A Systematic Review of Case Reports and Case Series.

BACKGROUND: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by motor, behavioral, and autonomic abnormalities. It is often underdiagnosed in geriatric patients with dementia despite established diagnostic criteria and treatment options. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review investigates catatonia in the elderly, particularly those with dementia, to examine their clinical presentation, treatment response, and prognosis compared to elderly patients without dementia. METHODS: We comprehensively searched MEDLINE and EMBASE, including case reports and series on catatonia in elderly patients. Reviewers independently performed data extraction and quality assessments. Statistical significance was set at a p value ≤0.05, and a multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze differences between patients with and without dementia. RESULTS: Our review included 182 articles with 225 cases. We found no significant differences in the clinical presentation of catatonia between patients with and without dementia, with both groups commonly exhibiting the hypokinetic variant. However, patients with dementia were more frequently treated with NMDA receptor antagonists (OR: 3.27; CI: 1.05-10.11; p = 0.040) and had a lower complete response rate to treatment (OR: 0.37; CI: 0.19-0.75; p = 0.006). Patients with dementia also exhibited fewer acute medical conditions (OR: 0.17; CI: 0.05-0.65; p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Catatonia in dementia does not have a different syndromic presentation. However, the diagnosis of dementia leads to varying preferences regarding the choice of symptomatic therapy and seems to be a predictor of a poorer therapeutic response. Actively treating catatonia, particularly in patients with dementia, addressing the characteristics of these patients is of paramount importance.

Combined neuraxial-general anesthesia in opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome: A case report.

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a very rare neurological disorder thought to be the result of autoimmune responses in the nervous system. The relationship between this disorder and anesthesia procedures has not been studied in detail. To our knowledge, there are only 4 case reports, none of them with epidural-general combined anesthesia. We present a 9-year-old female with OMS due to low-grade neuroblastoma, for 7 years, who underwent tumor remotion due to the large size. Intravenous induction was done with alfentanil, lidocaine, propofol and rocuronium and ropivacaine was administered via lumbar epidural catheter. Adding to the sparse anesthetic management information in OMS, we now show one more possible approach, that can be valuable in high-risk cases, where general anesthesia can be involved with higher risk for the patient.

Kaposi sarcoma in three pediatric liver transplantation recipients.

BACKGROUND: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is an endothelial cell tumor, rare in children. It is 200 times more frequent after solid organ transplantation than in the general population. METHODS: We report three cases of pediatric patients who developed KS after liver transplantation (LT). RESULTS: Case 1, a 4-year-old boy undergoing LT due to familial intrahepatic cholestasis. Five months after LT, he presented with fever, dyspnea, and cough with enlarged lymph nodes and splenomegaly, anemia, thrombocytopenia, elevated liver enzymes, and positive EBV viral load. Lymph node biopsy diagnosed KS with an elevated HHV8 viral load. Case 2, a 4-year-old boy who underwent LT due to secondary biliary cirrhosis resulting from extrahepatic biliary atresia. Two years later, graft dysfunction was noticed with positive EBV viral load, thrombocytopenia, massive cervical lymph node enlargement, and splenomegaly. Lymph node biopsy diagnosed KS, Castleman's disease, and plasmablastic lymphoma related to HHV8 infection. Case 3, a 15-month-old girl, who received two LT due to biliary cirrhosis. Six months later, she presented with diarrhea, abdominal distension, anemia, thrombocytopenia, enlarged lymph nodes, splenomegaly, and positive CMV viral load. Axillary lymph node biopsy diagnosed KS and HHV8 infection was confirmed. In all three cases, tacrolimus was discontinued and, after diagnosis, sirolimus was started. All recovered without relapse and have a good graft function. CONCLUSIONS: Kaposi sarcoma is a rare disease post-LT in children. Recognizing keywords and early diagnosis is crucial for timely treatment and survival.