Case report of a woman with anti amphiphysin positive stiff person syndrome.

Stiff person syndrome is a rare neuroimmunological disease, characterized by severe, involuntary stiffness with superimposed painful muscle spasms, which are worsened by external stimuli. The classical form is associated with high levels of antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase. One of the variant forms is associated with antibodies against amphiphysin. This entity is a paraneoplastic syndrome, caused primarily by breast cancer, secondarily by lung cancer. Symptomatic therapy of anti amphiphysin positive stiff person syndrome includes treatment with benzodiazepines and baclofen (including intrathecal baclofen therapy). The effect of immunological therapies is controversial. Treatment of the underlying cancer may be very effective. In this report, we describe a 68 year old female presenting with an unusally rapidly developing anti amphiphysin positive stiff person syndrome, which was associated with breast cancer. Her painful spasms abolished after intrathecal baclofen treatment was initiated. Her condition improved spontaneously and significantly after cancer treatment, which enabled to start her complex rehabilitation and the simultaneous dose reduction of the intrathecal baclofen. The bedridden patient improved to using a rollator walker and the baclofen pump could be removed 18 monthes after breast surgery. This highlights the importance of cancer screening and treatment in anti amphiphysin positive stiff person syndrome cases.

Multiple disruption of the body representation in neglect.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Neglect related to the body has many symptoms. We suggest that the various symptoms might be associated with the injuries of different cognitive functions referring to the body, which are caused by lesions of different brain areas. Therefore we investigated the injuries of two functions in a group of patients with neglect (N=10) contrary to patients without neglect (N=10) and healthy controls (N=10). These functions are: perception of body location in external space and the perception of body shape. METHODS: We applied a novel method (Body Portraying Method), which is suitable for measuring subjective perception of both body location and body shape. RESULTS: 1. Patients with left neglect perceived their bodies with a significant right shift compared to their real body position. In contrast to this, patients without neglect and healthy controls tended to shift the subjective location of their body to the left. 2. Patients with neglect perceived the shape of their bodies significantly more distorted than both patients without neglect and healthy controls. 3. In case of eight patients with neglect, the symptom of shifted body location to the right and the symptom of body shape distortion appeared together. However, injuries of these two functions dissociated in case of two neglect patients. CONCLUSIONS: Both the perception of body location in external space and the perception of body shape might become distorted in neglect. Furthermore, the dissociation of these symptoms supports our suggestion, that they might be associated with the injuries of different functions referring to the body. This result has practical issues as well. At the end of the study we discuss the necessity of appropriate tailored physiotherapy (fitted to the injured function) in the rehabilitation of patients with neglect.

[The role of pharmacotherapy audit in the improvement of drug therapy during inpatient rehabilitation care. Experience at the National Institute of Medical Rehabilitation, Hungary]. / Gyógyszerauditok szerepe a gyógyszeres terápia javításában a kórházi rehabilitációs ellátásban. Tapasztalatok az Országos Orvosi Rehabilitációs Intézetben.

UNLABELLED: Pharmacotherapy is one of the most important and dangerous area in hospital health care, that explains why innumerable efforts are made worldwide to improve this process and prevent mistakes. Although clinical audit is a well known and widely used method, it is very rarely used for this purpose and scientific papers dealing with this topic can be scarcely found. In the last 20 years different quality management systems were introduced into the Hungarian hospitals, but most of them are not specific for the medical care. The most important element of quality management systems is the internal, professional audit that serves patient safety. AIMS AND METHODS: Authors report their experience on pharmacotherapy audits performed for over a decade at the National Institute of Medical Rehabilitation, Hungary. They review the method of audit meetings in details and discuss the most frequent problems. RESULTS: The results indicate that characteristics of therapeutic mistakes in the rehabilitation practice are similar to those reported in scientific literature. CONCLUSIONS: Improving knowledge on pharmacotherapy audits of rehabilitation specialists may be an important part of continuous professional advancement providing facility for dispute on other issues of patient care.

Complication during postacute rehabilitation: patients with posttraumatic hydrocephalus.

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of posttraumatic hydrocephalus (PTH) among patients in our rehabilitation unit for traumatic brain injury. Furthermore, we aimed to assess the effect of shunt implantation and to identify the postoperative complication rate. This is a retrospective cohort study, in which between 2000 and 2009, data were collected from inpatients with traumatic brain injury complicated by PTH. During this period, 55 patients in our unit presented with PTH; all of these patients underwent ventricular shunt implantation. The incidence of PTH treated with shunt implantation was 4.8%. The mean age of the patients was 32 years (range 14-75 years). In 22 cases, the hydrocephalus was diagnosed in our rehabilitation unit (40%). Other patients were diagnosed and shunted before being transferred to our department. The median time of shunting was 80 days (range 20-270 days) after brain trauma. On the basis of scores of the functional independence measure, improvement could be observed in 43 cases (78%), the mean score improvement was 40 (2-81). Postoperative complications were seen in 10 patients (18%): four due to infections and six due to shunt failure. Revision was necessary in all 10 cases. Almost half of the diagnoses of PTH were established in the postacute rehabilitation unit, and all complications after shunt implantation were also recognized there. Precise clinical observation is necessary for diagnosis of PTH. Early diagnosis and treatment are important to prevent secondary complications. Teamwork and good cooperation between acute and postacute care are necessary for successful rehabilitation of patients with traumatic brain injury.