Publications by authors named "Julian Benito-Leon"

Background: Scrub typhus is an acute febrile infectious disease highly prevalent in the Asia Pacific region, often referred to as the "tsutsugamushi triangle." This mite-borne rickettsial zoonosis is caused by , an intracellular Gram-negative organism that primarily targets endothelial cells. The resulting vasculitis leads to multisystem involvement.

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  • Rapid correction of chronic hyponatremia can lead to osmotic demyelination syndrome (ODS), especially in patients with underlying conditions like Sheehan’s syndrome, a rare pituitary disorder following severe postpartum hemorrhage.
  • A case report details a 40-year-old woman who experienced neurological decline due to the correction of her long-standing hyponatremia, which had been mismanaged for years, leading to extrapontine and then central pontine myelinolysis.
  • The case emphasizes that even gradual correction of low sodium levels poses risks and highlights the need for careful management in patients with chronic hyponatremia and related conditions.
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Crossed Wernicke's aphasia (CWA) following a stroke is a rare clinical phenomenon, particularly when associated with seizures. This case report presents a unique instance of crossed CWA accompanied by focal clonic cluster seizures affecting the left arm and face, with secondary generalization, in a monolingual Bengali-speaking patient following a right middle cerebral artery ischemic stroke. The patient, a 70-year-old male from rural India, presented with acute behavioral abnormalities and language impairment.

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  • Brugada syndrome is a heart condition linked to sudden cardiac events, primarily caused by mutations in the sodium channel gene, SCN5A.
  • A case study involved a 25-year-old woman with a heart defect who tested positive for a new variant of the SCN5A gene, despite having no prior symptoms or family history of the syndrome.
  • The findings suggest that this new gene variant could have harmful impacts, further emphasizing the importance of genetic screening in asymptomatic individuals.
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Background And Objectives: Despite its extensive utilization, research on Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT)'s potential negative impact on specific cognitive processes is scarce. This article explores the widespread use of ChatGPT in educational, corporate, and various other sectors, focusing on its interaction with distinct cognitive domains such as attention, executive function, language, memory, visuospatial abilities, and social cognition.

Methods: A literature review was conducted using PubMed, identifying 256 articles, with 29 peer-reviewed articles analyzed after screening for relevance.

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A 40-year-old male farmer from rural West Bengal, India, presented with fever, headaches, seizure, eschar, and palsy of left cranial nerves VII, VIII, IX, and X as a rare clinical manifestation of scrub typhus. Positive IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests in serum and cerebrospinal fluid confirmed the diagnosis, with brain magnetic resonance imaging showing meningoencephalitis findings. Treatment with steroids and doxycycline led to neurological improvement.

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Neurometabolic homeostasis in the brain depends on the coordinated transport of glucose and other essential substrates across brain barriers, primarily the blood-brain barrier and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. In type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), persistent hyperglycemia disrupts these processes, leading to neurovascular dysfunction and cognitive impairment. This review examines how T2DM alters glucose and neurometabolite transport, emphasizing the role of glucose transporters and the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle in maintaining cerebral energy balance.

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Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most prevalent form of dementia, is expected to rise dramatically in incidence due to the global population aging. Traditional diagnostic approaches, such as cerebrospinal fluid analysis and positron emission tomography, are expensive and invasive, limiting their routine clinical use. Recent advances in blood-based biomarkers, including amyloid-beta, phosphorylated tau, and neurofilament light, offer promising non-invasive alternatives for early AD detection and disease monitoring.

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Objective: Obesity-associated insulin resistance (IR) is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality globally. Despite vast genomic data, many areas, from pathogenesis to management, still have significant knowledge gaps. We aimed to characterize visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in obesity and IR through a multi-omics approach.

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Background: The Monkeypox virus, a zoonotic pathogen of the Orthopoxvirus genus, has shown a marked global spread, resulting in cases of neuroinflammatory disorders. This systematic review aims to summarize the central nervous system manifestations linked to monkeypox virus infection.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines.

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  • Scrub typhus is a disease caused by mites and is common in the Asia Pacific, leading to serious neurological problems like meningoencephalitis and, in rare cases, CVST.
  • A unique case involved an 18-year-old pregnant woman in India who, after experiencing symptoms like fever and headaches, was found to have CVST stemming from scrub typhus meningoencephalitis; treatment involved azithromycin and later anticoagulation therapy.
  • The report emphasizes the need to consider CVST in pregnant women with severe scrub typhus symptoms even if antibiotics are being used, as early treatment is crucial for better outcomes.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, is a complex and multifactorial condition without cure at present. The latest treatments, based on anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies, have only a modest effect in reducing the progression of cognitive decline in AD, whereas the possibility of preventing AD has become a crucial area of research. In fact, recent studies have observed a decrease in dementia incidence in developed regions such as the US and Europe.

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Introduction: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) can affect the ability to perform complex tasks such as driving. The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) overlooks cognitive deficits crucial for driving. We investigated the relationship between the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC), which includes cognitive assessment, and EDSS in relation to driving performance.

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The relationship between spirituality and religiosity and their impact on mental health is intricate and underexplored. This exploratory review aims to elucidate the distinct effects of these constructs, highlighting their contributions to psychological well-being and clinical practices. By dissecting the impacts of spirituality and religiosity on mental health, the study focuses on their individual and combined roles in shaping therapeutic approaches and theoretical understandings in the field.

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  • * Key to her diagnosis was the identification of the "double-doughnut" sign on MRI, which indicated dengue encephalitis and helped differentiate it from other encephalitis causes.
  • * The case emphasizes the importance of recognizing atypical dengue presentations, particularly in areas where the virus is endemic, to ensure timely treatment and improve patient outcomes.
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Introduction: Seizure disorders have often been found to be associated with corpus callosum injuries, but in most cases, they remain undiagnosed. Understanding the clinical, electrographic, and neuroradiological alternations can be crucial in delineating this entity.

Objective: This systematic review aims to analyze the effects of corpus callosum injuries on seizure semiology, providing insights into the neuroscientific and clinical implications of such injuries.

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Background: Hypercalcemia-induced posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a rare entity primarily associated with iatrogenic vitamin D/calcium overdose, malignancy, or, infrequently, primary hyperparathyroidism.

Case Report: We present a novel case of an adult male from rural India who experienced recurrent acute pancreatitis caused by hypercalcemia with concurrent manifestation of PRES. Diagnostic evaluation revealed markedly elevated serum calcium levels and parathyroid hormone concentrations, consistent with primary hyperparathyroidism.

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Background: Cognitive dysfunction is regarded as one of the most severe aftereffects following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Eye movements, controlled by several brain areas, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and frontal-thalamic circuits, provide a potential metric for assessing cortical networks and cognitive status. We aimed to examine the utility of eye movement measurements in identifying cognitive impairments in long COVID patients.

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