Tumefactive multiple sclerosis.

Tumefactive multiple sclerosis (MS) is a subtype of atypical and rare MS that presents with tumor-like lesions in the central nervous system. The lesions may demonstrate a mass effect, edema, with ring enhancement. They can be mistaken for brain tumors or brain abscesses radiologically and clinically. Here we describe an instructive case of a 55-year-old woman with tumefactive MS who presented with occasional numbness in her right arm and leg, headache, thought confusion, and blurred vision for 2 years.

Recurrent idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis with chronic headache and cranial nerve involvement.

Idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis is a rare, fibrosing inflammatory disease that causes localized or diffuse thickening of the dura mater in the brain and/or spinal cord. It may be cranial, spinal, and/or craniospinal pachymeningitis depending on the place of involvement. In our case, a 34-year-old woman presented with sixth cranial nerve involvement and headache and was diagnosed with idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis as a result of the exclusion of other causes and central nervous system imaging. Clinical and radiological follow-up occurred for 1 year, and treatment is presented.

Myositis developing after Covid-19 mRNA vaccine: Case Report.

Vaccine-related side effects are common. Usually, pain, edema, redness and tenderness may be seen at the injection site. Symptoms such as fever, fatigue, myalgia may occur. The coronavirus 2019 disease (Covid-19) has affected many people around the world. Although the vaccines that have been used play an active role in the fight against the pandemic, adverse events still continue to be reported. We present a 21-year-old patient who was diagnosed as having myositis after receiving covid vaccine with complaints of pain in her left arm two days after the 2nd dose of BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 vaccine, followed by inability to stand up from sitting and squatting and difficulty in going up and down stairs. Keywords: vaccine, myositis, creatine kinase, IVIG.

ANTI-NMDA-R encephalitis: case report.

Purpose: Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis (NMDA-R) is the most common among autoimmune encephalitis caused by antibodies developed against surface antigens. It was first identified in 2007 as presenting with seizures, autonomic dysfunction and movement disorders, in addition to acute or subacute onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Multifocal, nonspecific white matter lesions can be seen on cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Since paraneoplasia is usually found in the etiology, malignancy should be screened in patients with NMDA-R encephalitis. Case description: In our case, a 48-year-old patient is presented who has been diagnosed with anti-NMDA-R encephalitis during the examinations, complaining of numbness on the left side of his face, seizures, imbalance, excessive talkativeness and insomnia. Comment: Autoimmune encephalitis should be considered in patients with suspected autoimmune encephalitis, which takes severe clinical course and fails to respond to treatment adequately; NMDA receptor antibodies and other autoantibody tests should be requested, malignancy screening should be performed and treatment should be started in the early period.

Neuropathic Pain Frequency in Neurology Outpatients: A Multicenter Study.

INTRODUCTION: Neuropathic pain is common, but the frequency of misdiagnosis and irrational treatment is high. The aim of this study is to evaluate the rate of neuropathic pain in neurology outpatient clinics by using valid and reliable scales and review the treatments of patients. METHODS: The study was conducted for 3 months in eleven tertiary health care facilities. All outpatients were asked about neuropathic pain symptoms. Patients with previous neuropathic pain diagnosis or who have neuropathic pain symptoms were included and asked to fill painDETECT and douleur neuropathic en 4 questions (DN4) questionnaire. Patients whose DN4 score is higher than 3 and/or painDETECT score higher than 13 and/or who are on drugs for neuropathic pain were considered patients with neuropathic pain. The frequency of neuropathic pain was calculated and the treatments of patients with neuropathic pain were recorded. RESULTS: Neuropathic pain frequency was 2.7% (95% CI: 1.5-4.9). The most common cause was diabetic neuropathy. According to painDETECT, the mean overall pain intensity was 5.7±2.4, being lower among patients receiving treatment. Pharmacological neuropathic pain treatment was used by 72.8% of patients and the most common drug was pregabalin. However, 70% of those receiving gabapentinoids were using ineffective doses. Besides, 4.6% of the patients were on medications which are not listed in neuropathic pain treatment guidelines. CONCLUSION: In our cohort, the neuropathic pain severity was moderate and the frequency was lower than the literature. Although there are many guidelines, high proportion of patients were being treated by ineffective dosages or irrational treatments.

Cardiovascular risk factors and white matter hyperintensities in patients with migraine without aura.

OBJECTIVES: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are observed in patients with migraine with aura (MWA) and without aura (MWO), but there are a limited number of studies regarding patients with MWA. In this study, we aimed to investigate the cardiovascular risk factors which may play a role in the development of WMHs in patients with MWO. METHODS: This observational, analytical, case-control study was conducted between June 2016 and January 2017. It included 21 patients with MWO who had WMHs on brain MRI and 19 patients with MWO who tested normal on MRI (control group) at the Neurology Department Outpatient Polyclinic, Ankara Training and Research Hospital. The patients' data (history, family history, neurological examination findings, echocardiography findings, and cerebral MRI findings) were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Age, gender, body mass index, blood lipid level, migraine duration, localization of headache, average number of headache per month, medication for headache attack, and echocardiography findings were similar between the two groups. (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, we did not find any association between cardiovascular risk factors and WMHs development in patients with MWO. The association of risk factors other than cardiovascular risk factors (genetic factors and oxidative stress) with the development of WMHs in patients with MWO should also be studied in future.

[Validation of the revised illness perception questionnaire for migraine patients and the effects of earthquake experience on perception of disease]. / Migren hastalarinda revize hastalik algisi ölçeginin geçerliligi ve deprem tecrübesinin hastalik algisi üzerine etkisi.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) and to determine the effects of earthquake experience on the perception in migraine patients. METHODS: The sample was composed of 62 outpatients, consisting of with migraine diagnosis who were in Ercis during earthquake (n=33) and who had never had any earthquake experience (n=29).The interview form, IPQ-R and Beck Depression Scale (BDS) were applied. The study was carried out on migraine patients whose mean age was 31 and who had been diagnosed since 7.8 years. Comparison of groups with earthquake experience (group1) and without experience (group 2) there were no difference in point of demographic findings and disease severity (p>0.05). RESULTS: In the part concerning the manifestations of the disease, the most frequently manifestations were found pain, headache and fatige. The test was determined to be reliable. Illness coherence and timeline (cyclic) subscale scores (p<0.05) and BDS score (z: -2.006, p<0.05)were significantly higher in group 1. Although an earthquake caused an increase in depression scores did not cause much change in the IPQ-R scores. Group1 understand disease better and realize of the cyclical nature of the disease. Other perception parameters of the disease were same in both groups. CONCLUSION: A severe life event such as an earthquake did not much change IPQ-R scores in migraine patients. The results of this study demonstrated that IPQ could be used reliably in the Turkish migraine patients.

Oxidative and nitrosative stress in serum of patients with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the common neurodegenerative disorders. Oxidative stress is considered as a contributing factor to the development of PD. The present study aims to investigate serum oxidative stress status in patients with PD. Oxidative stress was assessed by measuring serum nitric oxide levels, lipid hydroperoxide concentrations, and nitric oxide synthase activity. In addition, total serum antioxidant capacity (TAC) was evaluated using the serum 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free-radical scavenging method in 32 patient with Parkinson's disease and 32 control subjects. Our results indicated that serum nitric oxide and lipid hydroperoxide levels were significantly lower in patients with PD than controls. Moreover, nitric oxide levels were found to be negatively correlated with Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). However, no statistical difference was observed in total serum antioxidant capacities and nitric oxide synthase activities between patients and controls. The present study indicates that although antioxidant capacity was not changed, lipid hydroperoxide (LPO) level was found decreased. This might show pre-oxidative process in these patients. In addition, decreased nitric oxide (NO) level and negative correlation observed between NO level and disease rating scale implicated a role for NO in the disease process.

Clinical associations, biological risk factors and outcomes of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.

Objective Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare cerebrovascular disease affecting young adults. The majority of the patients are female. The aim of this study is to assess the clinical associations, risk factors and outcomes of the patients with CVST. Methods The data of 75 patients with CVST admitted to our hospital between 2006 and 2016 were reviewed. Demographic and clinical features and the thrombophilic risk factors of the patients were recorded. The localizations of the thrombi were determined and modified Rankin score at the time of onset and discharge were calculated. Results The majority of our patients (78.7%) were female. Median age was 35 years (16-76). The most common symptom was headache (86.7%). In 82.6% of our patients, inherited or acquired risk factors for thrombosis were detected. Transverse sinus was the most common site of thrombosis followed by sigmoid and superior sagittal sinuses. Two thirds of the patients had involvement of multiple sinuses. The patients with the involvement of sagittal sinus had better disability at the time of admittance ( p = 0.013) while the number of involved sinuses was correlated worse disability ( p = 0.015). The neurologic states in the majority of the patients were improved by the end of the hospitalization period ( p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in disability score at discharge between men and women ( p = 0.080). No patient with CVST died in the hospitalization period. Conclusions This study is one of the largest cohort studies on CVST in our region. The results of the study disclosed that CVST had wide range of clinical manifestations and non-specific symptoms at the beginning. For that reason, in especially high risk groups for thrombosis, the diagnosis of CVST should be kept in mind.