Clinical and radiological features in CADASIL and NOTCH3-negative patients: a multicenter study from Turkey.

Background: The diversity of clinical presentation and neuroimaging findings of CADASIL (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy) from different regions of the world has not yet been studied in depth. Here we investigated the variability of clinical, radiological and genetic data of 48 patients analyzed for NOTCH3 mutation in Turkey.

Methods: Clinical evaluation was made according to a preformed questionnaire.

Paraneoplastic pandysautonomia as a manifestation of non-small cell lung cancer.

Pandysautonomia is a severe and rare clinical condition characterized by widespread sympathetic and parasympathetic dysfunction. Consideration of whether symptoms and presentation are acute, subacute, or chronic is often helpful in establishing a differential diagnosis. The underlying mechanisms leading to pure pandysautonomia are unclear; however, there is some evidence suggestive of an immune-mediated pathogenesis.

Predictors of refractoriness in a Turkish status epilepticus data bank.

Refractory status epilepticus (RSE) is known to constitute approximately 10-50% of all cases of status epilepticus (SE) and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In the present study, data from a prospectively collected SE database were analyzed. Patients with RSE (defined as a SE episode requiring a second line of intravenous treatment following intravenous phenytoin) were compared with patients with nonrefractory SE (NRSE); 290 episodes of SE were identified, of which 108 (38%) were defined as RSE.

VEGF protects brain against focal ischemia without increasing blood--brain permeability when administered intracerebroventricularly.

Delayed administration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes functional recovery after focal cerebral ischemia. However, early intravenous injection of VEGF increases blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakage, hemorrhagic transformation and infarct volume whereas its application to cortical surface is neuroprotective. We have investigated whether or not early intracerebroventricular administration of VEGF could replicate the neuroprotective effect observed with topical application and the mechanism of action of this protection.

[Intraarterial thrombolysis in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke: Technical and clinical results].

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and recanalization efficacy of local IA rt-PA delivery in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Materials And Methods: Fifteen patients with acute ischemic stroke were treated; of these, 10 were carotid artery stroke, 5 were vertebrobasilar territory stroke cases. The neurological status of the patients were graded according to the Glascow Coma Scale and National Institutes of Heart Stroke Scale.

Stroke and status epilepticus: stroke type, type of status epilepticus, and prognosis.

Even though stroke is known to be a common cause of status epilepticus (SE), the types of stroke or SE that may be associated are not yet clearly defined. The aims of this study were to assess the timing and type of SE in stroke patients and to observe the effects of stroke and the type of SE on the response to treatment and mortality. From May 1998 to May 2001 a total of 121 patients were admitted with SE.

Autonomic dysfunction in multiple sclerosis: correlation with disease-related parameters.

Cardiovascular autonomic functions were investigated in a prospective, controlled study of 22 consecutive relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 22 healthy subjects using 5 simple noninvasive tests and sympathetic skin response testing. Tests included the heart rate response to deep breathing, valsalva maneuver and standing, blood pressure response to standing and sustained hand grip, and were graded according to the Ewing and Clark classification as early, definite or severe impairment. The relationship between autonomic dysfunction and disease-related parameters such as the expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and disease duration was studied.

The clinical profile of nonmotor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease patients.

Objective: Recently described nonmotor fluctuations may cause disability in Parkinson's disease patients. These fluctuations are generally grouped as sensory, autonomic and psychiatric. The clinical spectrum and frequency of these fluctuating symptoms are not well-described.