Transorbital intracranial impalement injuries by wooden foreign bodies: clinical, radiological and forensic aspects.

Facial impalement injuries involve the danger of diagnostic pitfalls. Even if the penetrating object extends into the cranial cavity, the clinical symptoms and the radiological signs may be uncharacteristic. In order to illustrate the diagnostic problems, two cases of accidental impalement are reported.

Role of anterior and occipital white matter lesions for smooth eye tracking in myotonic dystrophy.

Background: The degradation of smooth pursuit eye movements (SP) in myotonic dystrophy (MD) has been shown to result from lesions in the central nervous system. Imaging and histopathological studies have shown considerable areas of white matter lesions (WMLs) with periventricular emphasis.

Objective: To discover which of these WMLs are relevant in SP impairment?

Method: Horizontal sinusoidal SP, the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), and its suppression by fixation (VOR-S) were investigated in 12 patients with MD, and the data obtained were compared with those from a control group.

Hyperglycemia in patients with focal cerebral ischemia after intravenous thrombolysis: influence on clinical outcome and infarct size.

The aim of the present prospective study was to investigate whether hyperglycemia influences the clinical outcome or the infarct size after intravenous thrombolysis of focal cerebral ischemia. A consecutive series of hyperglycemic (n = 14) and normoglycemic patients (n = 17) with acute focal cerebral ischemia (<3 h) in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory received rtPA (0.9 mg/kg body weight) intravenously.

Reversible coma with raised intracranial pressure: an unusual clinical manifestation of CADASIL.

A 50-year-old woman presented with recurrent episodes of headache, nausea and disturbed consciousness that were fully reversible within a few days. Clinical and radiological findings suggested raised intracranial pressure, which on one occasion was confirmed by intracranial pressure monitoring. Magnetic resonance imaging performed in the asymptomatic interval disclosed a diffuse leukoencephalopathy.

VHL c.505 T>C mutation confers a high age related penetrance but no increased overall mortality.

Background: Germline mutations of the VHL gene cause von Hippel-Lindau syndrome (VHL). In southern Germany, a specific mutation in this gene, c.505 T>C, is one of the most frequent alterations owing to a founder effect.