[Carotid-cavernous fistulas of low-flow type: color Doppler imaging of retrobulbar vessels findings].

Background: Carotid-cavernous fistulas (CCF) of low-flow type are the results of development of communication between small arteries and veins of cavernous sinus.

Purpose: To assess the role of CDI of retrobulbar vessels in the study of two patients with CCF of low-flow type.

Methods: We have used a sonographer with 9MHz linear probe.

[Assessment of a patient with optic neuropathy].

Optic neuropathy (ON) is defined as the reduction of vision due to inflammatory lesion of the optic nerve. The patient with ON has to be evaluated clinically but also with complex techniques (magnetic resonance imaging, visual evoked potentials, cerebrospinal fluid examination) because ON could be the presenting symptom in multiple sclerosis patients. Corticosteroids should be administrated intravenous and the patient should be followed by the neurologist in order to signal the appearance of new neurological signs.

[Right exophthalmos to a retro-olivary ischemic stroke].

The author presents the case of a healthy young man with an acute onset of an inferior brainstem symptoms. The clinical examination suggests a right Wallenberg syndrome associated with an unexpected ipsilateral exophthalmos MR Imaging confirms the location of the vascular ischemic lesion and, in addition reveals the cause of the right exophthalmos.

[Diagnostic criteria in acute neuromyelitis].

Neuromyelitis optica, also known as Devic disease, was identified in the 19th century, is one of the inflammatory idiopathic demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, often mistaken for severe multiple sclerosis. In 1999 it had been proposed diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica, but in 2006 these criteria were revised by Dean Wingerchuck. These criteria are 99% sensitive and 90% specific for differentiating neuromyelitis optica from multiple sclerosis that present with optic neuritis or a myelitis syndrome.

[Paraneoplastic syndrome presenting as epilepsia partialis continua].

We describe a man of 59 years old, a smoker (20 cigarettes per day), without any pathologic background, with epilepsia partialis continua, with a relatively sudden appearance in the last 6 weeks. We wanted to find the cause of these prolonged focal seizures. The initial diagnosis of emergency was that of right side hemiballismus.

[Optic neuropathy in multiple sclerosis].

The inflammation of the optic nerve called optic neuropathy could be an onset marker of multiple sclerosis. The authors review the place of optic neuropathy (neuritis) in the inflammatory demyelinating disease continuum, especially as the onset symptom of multiple sclerosis. We present the clinical symptoms, the aetiology of optic neuritis and the adjacent methods used to investigate optic neuritis.

[Secondary effects of chronic treatment with levodopa in Parkinson disease].

We have analysed the side effects of levodopa preparations in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. The study has begun in 1993. All the patients were initially admitted in the Neurological Clinic of the Recovery Hospital in Iasi, and then followed in ambulatory condition.

[Visual fields defects in cerebral hemorrhagic vascular accident].

Interpretation of the fields of vision forms a key part of ophthalmic and neurologic examinations. The homonymous hemianopa is a hallmark of a retrochiasmal lesion. Postchiasmal lesions that interrupt the visual pathway may have multiple causes which the circulatory disturbances is one of the most important.

[Difficulties in reading the optotype].

The paper presents in its first part the actual knowledge about the literal paralexias taking into consideration that the main method to examine the visual acuity includes the literal gnosia that has a symbolic character. The literal paralexias represents a normal cerebral phenomenon at the limit of the visual acuity. The typology of the paralexias is being studied by the morphological entiry of the letter and by the degree of being aware of them.

[Diagnostic difficulties in hemiplegic stroke--a neurological or neurosurgical case?].

Parting from the personal experiences and the actual information existing in the bibliography, the authors present, briefly, a general view on the complexity of the cerebral vascular pathology, insisting on the hemiplegic ictus. The aetiopathology of this syndrome is diversified so that it is difficult to make a strong correlation between age, way of beginning and clinical aspect. By way of example, the authors present 4 personal observations of hemiplegic ictus at different ages.

[The transient ischemic attack, between diagnosis and treatment].

The transient ischemic attack (TIA) in cerebral circulation in 161 patients is studied. The causes and favouring factors are analysed, arterial hypertension and dyslipidemias representing 70% of the factors that might be incriminated in the physiopathology of TIAs. The paraclinical and therapeutic results demonstrate that in over 30% of the cases the etiology could be explained by "the multiple defect theory", the importance of transcranial Doppler in the diagnosis and prognosis of TIA, especially in the young patients, being underlined.

[Olivopontocerebellar atrophy in the context of progressive cerebellar atrophies (a clinico-anatomical study)].

The study of 15 cases of progressive cerebellar atrophies, and especially of the olivopontocerebellar atrophy, that was investigated both clinically and anatomically, has attempted to evidence particularities and correlations existing between these two types of atrophy. Olivopontocerebellar atrophy appears to be an abiotrophy of the cerebellum, considered to be spontaneous, sporadic, and sometimes with a hereditary familial background. It is a systemic disease, predominantly of the neocerebellum and involving the cerebellopedal system.