RESUMEN
Invasive sinus aspergillosis is a rare life-threatening condition usually found in immunocompromised patients. The fungus spreads from paranasal sinuses into the central nervous system by direct extension or through blood vessels. Perineural spread is an uncommon mechanism of spread in invasive aspergillosis. A mycotic aneurysm is a dangerous complication of invasive sinus aspergillosis because of its insidious development and is often diagnosed only post-mortem after causing fatal intracranial hemorrhage. Intracranial vascular complications of invasive sinus aspergillosis require prompt recognition and treatment and should always be considered when a diagnosis of CNS aspergillosis is made. We present a case of invasive sinus aspergillosis in an apparently immunocompetent patient that manifested with a brain abscess, perineural spread of the infection, and mycotic aneurysm of the vertebral artery with subsequent rupture and fatal subarachnoid hemorrhage. This case highlights the possibility of perineural spread and hemorrhagic complications in invasive cerebral aspergillosis.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown beneficial effects of bilateral stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) on motor as well as on non-motor symptoms (NMS) up to 36 months post-surgery in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. We set to explore the long-term effect of STN-DBS on NMS in a four-year follow-up, prospective, observational study. METHODS: Forty patients were enrolled and assessed at baseline. Twenty-eight were followed-up at 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months after the operation. The effect of post-operative time on NMS was analyzed by six-level repeated measures ANOVA. In a post-hoc analysis the follow-up scores were compared to baseline using a paired t-test. RESULTS: The following scores stayed improved up to 24 months after surgery, presented as baseline/24 months, p-value (t-test): total Non-Motor Symptoms Scale score (54.0 ± 5.6/44.9 ± 5.0, p = 0.029), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (14.3 ± 1.3/11.3 ± 1.2, p = 0.019) and PDQ39 (53.4 ± 4.5/40.2 ± 2.9, p = 0.012). PD Sleep Scale 2 remained improved throughout the study (17.4 ± 2.0/12.8 ± 1.3 at 48 months, p = 0.032), while Beck Depression Inventory only at six months post-surgery (9.5 ± 1.2/6.7 ± 0.7 at 6 months, p = 0.006). Montreal Cognitive Assessment remained stable up to 24 months and then declined at 36 months (26.3 ± 0.5/25.4 ± 0.5 at 36 months, p = 0.003), Starkstein Apathy Scale deteriorated throughout the study (7.6 ± 0.7/12.7 ± 0.9 at 48 months, p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: We observed beneficial effect of STN-DBS in several but not all domains of NMS at least up to 24 months post-op in advanced PD. Further long-term studies on larger cohorts of PD patients and longer follow-up need to be conducted to better understand the long-term effect of STN-DBS on NMS.