Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis: Evaluation of Nineteen Patients

Objective: Cerebral sinus venous thrombosis (CSVT) is a disease that can be seen in all age groups with various clinical findings and usually a good prognosis. In this study, evaluation of the complaints on admission, the possible risk factors, localization, findings and treatment approaches, and discussion of these findings with comparison to the literature were aimed. Materials and Methods: The demographic, clinical, laboratory and the radiological characteristics of 19 patients with diagnosed with CSVT and followed at the Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital Clinic of Neurology. Results: Nineteen patients (15 female, 4 male) with the diagnosis of CSVT were included. The mean age of the patients was determined as 31.3 +/- 11.2. Headache was determined to be the first symptom on admission in 17 patients. Nauseavomiting (n=10), blurred vision (n=4) and epileptic seizures (n=3) had accompanied headache. Altered state of consciousness (n=2), papilledema (n=4), dysarthria (n=1), and cerebellar disorder (n=1) were determined. Two of the patients were pregnant and 6 patients were in the postpartum period. CSVT due to infection was determined in 2 patients. No reason for etiological investigation was found in 4 of the cases. In 11 patients, more than one etiology were detected. Two patients had been diagnosed with Behcet's disease. MTHFR A1298Cgene heterozygous mutation was most detected. Fourteen patients were determined to have a single sinus venous thrombosis and 5 patients had more than one sinus venous thrombosis on magnetic resonance venography. Six patients had venous infarction. Conclusion: Pregnancy and postpartum period are significant risk factors for CSVT. The association of more than one reason in the etiological investigations of patients despite the presence of one significant risk factor has been emphasized

A Rare Cause of Paresthesia: Hypophosphatemia

Phosphate is a structural molecule for cells and also is used as coenzyme or as seconder messenger. Renal or gastrointestinal loss of phosphate, diabetes mellitus, chronic alcoholism, hyperparathyroidism, sepsis, increased glucocorticoid, diuretics and antacids may cause hypophosphatemia. Muscle weakness, paresthesia, confusion, convulsion, tremor and coma are neurological symptoms of hypophosphatemia. Main clinical signs occur due to deterioration oxygen distribution and reduced intracellular adenosine triphosphate. In the treatment of hypophosphatemia identification of underlying causes is important. In this article, a 26-year-old young male patient with paresthesia that is caused by hypophosphatemia due to D vitamin deficiency is reported. Clinicians must be on the alert about phosphate imbalance which is seen more rare than other electrolytes when investigation of patients with paresis and/or paresthesia

Erdosteine ameliorates PTZ-induced oxidative stress in mice seizure model

The role of oxygen-derived free radicals has been suggested in genesis of epilepsy and in the post seizure neuronal death. The aim of this study was to investigate whether erdosteine has a preventive effect against epilepsy and postepileptic oxidative stress. The mice (n = 27) were divided into three groups: (i) PTZ-induced-epilepsy group (it = 9); (ii) PTZ-induced-epilepsy + erdosteine group (it = 9); (iii) control group (n = 9). The animals were observed for a period of 30 min for latency to first seizure onset, total seizure duration, the number of seizure episodes. Then they were sacrificed and the brains were quickly removed, and frozen for biochemical analysis. Malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and xanthine oxidase (XO) activities were carried out in the brain tissue. The latent period between PTZ induction and seizure are longer in the PTZ + erdosteine group than in PTZ-induced-epilepsy group (P < 0.05). Biochemical analyses of brain tissue, revealed a significant increase in the MDA, XO and NO levels in the PTZ group according to erdosteine group. SOD level did not change in this group. While MDA and XO levels are significantly lower, SOD level is significantly higher in the PTZ + erdosteine group compared to PTZ and control groups (P < 0.01). The present study demonstrated that erdosteine treatment both may increase latent interval between seizures and may decrease oxidative stress, thus may ameliorate neuronal death in brain during seizures. It may be used as an adjunct therapy in epilepsy. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved