Depiction of facial nerve paresis in the gallery of portraits carved in stone by George Matthew the Dalmatian on the Sibenik Cathedral dating from the 15th century.

The introductory segment of this paper briefly describes George Matthew the Dalmatian, the architect who, between 1441 and 1473, oversaw the construction of the Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik, a city on the Croatian side of the Adriatic coast. Of the most impressive details included in this monumental construction and sculptural flamboyant gothic production infused with distinctive Dalmatian spirit is a frieze of 71 stone and three lion portraits encircling the outer apse wall. From the intriguing amalgamation of portraits of anonymous people this master came across in his surrounding, the fiftieth head in the row has been selected for this occasion. On the face of a younger man the authors have recognized and described pathognomonic right-sided facial nerve paresis. The question posed here is whether this is coincidental or it represents the master's courage, given that instead of famous people in the cathedral he situated not only ordinary people but also those "labelled" and traditionally marginalized, thus, in the most beautiful manner, foreshadowing the forthcoming spirit of Humanism and Renaissance in Croatian and European art.

Meralgia parestésica: a propósito de una serie de 140 casos / Meralgia Paraesthetca: a report on a series of 140 cases

Introducción. La meralgia parestésica es una patología frecuente en la consulta de neurología extrahospitalaria. Apesar de ello, el diagnóstico, tratamiento y pronóstico de este cuadro no están bien establecidos. Pacientes y métodos. Estudioretrospectivo de 140 pacientes. Se recogen datos demográficos, clínica, estudio diagnóstico, etiología, tratamiento y evolución.Resultados. Hubo un predominio masculino, con una mediana de 54 años. El seguimiento medio fue de 25 meses. Lossíntomas narrados fueron: acorchamiento, dolor urente, hormigueo o pinchazos en el territorio nervioso. En la exploración sehalló hipoestesia como signo más frecuente. Hubo historia de otra neuropatía compresiva en el 13,6%. El diagnóstico se basóen la historia clínica y la exploración neurológica. El estudio neurofisiológico y las pruebas complementarias se reservaronpara casos atípicos. La etiología más frecuente fue la espontánea, y se hallaron sólo tres casos secundarios a lesión estructural.Un tercio de los pacientes recibió tratamiento farmacológico. Aunque el cuadro fue benigno, en la mayoría tendióa cronificarse. Los pacientes tratados farmacológicamente no mostraron una mejoría significativa frente a los que no recibierontratamiento. El dato pronóstico más importante para la mejoría del cuadro fue la identificación y corrección de los factoresdesencadenantes de compresión del nervio. Conclusiones. La meralgia parestésica es una patología frecuente, benigna,pero con tendencia a cronificarse, en la que es importante identificar y corregir factores mecánicos, con pobre respuesta altratamiento farmacológico, y sólo en casos excepcionales secundaria a lesión estructural (AU)

Introduction. Meralgia paraesthetica is a pathology that is frequently seen in visits to extra-hospital neurologyservices. Nevertheless, the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of this condition remain somewhat unclear. Patients andmethods. A retrospective study was conducted involving 140 patients. Data were collected concerning demographic aspects,clinical picture, diagnostic study, aetiology, treatment and progression. Results. There was a predominance of males, with amean age of 54 years. The mean follow-up time was 25 months. The symptoms that were reported were as follows: numbness,burning pain, tingling or prickling in the nerve territory. Hypaesthesia was the most frequent sign found in the examination.History of another compressive neuropathy was present in 13.6% of patients. The diagnosis was based on the patient recordand the neurological examination. The neurophysiological study and complementary tests were reserved for atypical cases. Themost common causation was spontaneous and only three cases were found to be secondary to a structural lesion. A third of thepatients were receiving pharmacological treatment. Although the clinical picture was benign, in most cases it tended to becomechronic. Patients treated pharmacologically did not show a significant improvement in comparison to those who were not giventreatment. The most important data for forecasting improvement of the clinical picture were the identification and correction ofthe factors precipitating compression of the nerve. Conclusions. Meralgia paraesthetica is a frequent, benign pathology butwith a tendency to become chronic that responds poorly to pharmacological treatment. It is important to identify and correctmechanical factors and only in exceptional cases is it secondary to a structural lesion. (AU)