An Atypical Phenotype of Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy Associated with Ocular Palsy, IgM-anti Ganglioside Antibody, and Fever-induced Recurrence.

We herein report a case of recurrent multifocal, distal-dominant-sensorimotor neuropathy with ophthalmoplegia, IgM anti-GM1 antibody, and pyrexia-associated relapse. The patient developed sensory disturbance in her limbs after febrile disease at 50 years old. She had experienced several similar episodes and was admitted to the hospital at 56 years old. Based on a pathological study and electrophysiological findings consistent with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), maintenance IVIg therapy was administered and produced partial improvement with no relapse at one-year follow-up. Immunohistochemical studies suggested the presence of IgG (not IgM) anti-myelin antibodies. Chronic neuropathy with ophthalmoplegia and pyrexia-associated relapse may be a unique variant of CIDP.

Cholesterol-added antigens can enhance antiglycolipid antibody activity: Application to antibody testing.

We analysed the effect of adding cholesterol to glycolipid antigens on antibody activity with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 123 subjects consisting of 96 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome, 25 Miller Fisher syndrome, and two Bickerstaff brainstem encephalitis. The use of cholesterol-added GM1 antigens increased anti-GM1 activity in 11 out of 23 anti-GM1-positive patients and resulted in six out of 100 anti-GM1-negative patients becoming anti-GM1-positive. Enhancement of anti-GM1 activity by cholesterol addition was significantly associated with antecedent gastrointestinal infection. The use of cholesterol-added glycolipid antigens can increase the detection rate of anti-glycolipid antibodies and accurately evaluate the anti-glycolipid antibody activity in vivo.

[An anti-RNP antibody-positive case of aseptic meningitis induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in a young woman].

A 19-year-old woman developed high fever, headache, and nausea after taking Loxoprofen for pharyngitis, followed by disturbed consciousness and nuchal stiffness. The patient and her mother had a history of Raynaud's phenomenon. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination indicated a diagnosis of aseptic meningitis and revealed high levels of Q albumin and IgG index. Anti-RNP antibodies were positive in serum and CSF. Her symptoms disappeared immediately after cessation of Loxoprofen and a drug lymphocyte stimulation test was negative, confirming a diagnosis of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)-induced aseptic meningitis. It should be kept in mind that an immune abnormality such as serum and CSF anti-RNP antibodies may play a role in development of NSAIDs-induced aseptic meningitis. A history of usage of NSAIDs and a thorough examination of collagen diseases are useful for identification of the origin of aseptic meningitis in a young woman.

Effect of educational television commercial on pre-hospital delay in patients with ischemic stroke.

Administering intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) within 4.5 h or endovascular procedures within 8 h of ischemic stroke onset may reduce the risk of disability. The effectiveness of media campaigns to raise stroke awareness and shorten pre-hospital delay is unclear. We studied 1144 consecutive ischemic stroke patients at Aomori Prefectural Central Hospital, Japan, between March 2010 and February 2014. From March 2012, the government sponsored an educational campaign based on a television commercial to improve knowledge of stroke symptoms and encourage ambulance calls for facial palsy, arm palsy, or speech disturbance. For the 544 and 600 patients admitted before and during the intervention, respectively, we recorded the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, stroke type, the time when patients or bystanders recognized stroke symptoms, and hospital arrival time. Pre-hospital delay, as the time interval from awareness of stroke to hospital arrival, was categorized as 0-3, 3-6, and 6+ h. The mean pre-hospital delay was shorter (12.0 vs 13.5 h; P = 0.0067), the proportion of patients arriving within 3 h was larger (55.7 vs 46.5 %; P = 0.0021), and the proportion arriving after 6 h was smaller (32.7 vs 39.5 %; P = 0.0162) in the intervention group than in the pre-intervention group. There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients treated with r-tPA (6 and 7.5 % of the intervention and pre-intervention groups, respectively). A television-based public education campaign potentially reduced pre-hospital delay for ischemic stroke patients, but the r-tPA treatment rate was unchanged.

[A case of multiple liver metastases from breast cancer in which we confirmed disappearance of cancer cells after hepatic resection following hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy].

A 46-year-old woman underwent right mastectomy for stage IIA breast cancer in 1993. Six years and 8 months after this operation, she was diagnosed as having multiple liver metastasis form the breast cancer. An intra-arterial catheter was inserted percutaneously into the hepatic artery and she was given hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy and general chemoendocrine therapy. The metastatic liver tumors were gradually reduced in size and tumor markers returned to the normal range. However, tumor size was unchanged after February 2001. After obtaining her informed consent from the patient, we performed hepatic resection in December 2001. Histopathologically, three scars were observed and no tumor cell was found. She has been free from recurrence to date. This case suggests that chemoendocrine therapy including hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy is effective for breast cancer patients with liver metastasis.