Wernicke’s encephalopathy and central pontine myelinolysis in hyperemesis gravidarum

A pregnant woman, who had been suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, presented with alteration of consciousness, ocular nystagmus and ataxia. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the brain showed typical findings of Wernicke’s encephalopathy and central pontine myelinolysis. The clinical features responded dramatically to thiamine supplementation

Sensory profile and its impact on quality of life in patients with painful diabetic polyneuropathy

Context: Painful diabetic polyneuropathy (PDN) is common and causes significant disability. The sensory profile in each patient is different and affects quality of life. Aim: To describe the demographic, details of sensory profile and its impact on quality of life in patients with PDN. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional survey in patients with PDN who were treated in a University Hospital. Materials and Methods: They were interviewed with standard questionnaires, which included neuropathic pain scale (NPS), a short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) and a short form-36 quality of life survey (SF-36). Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive statistics were used in demographic data. Student′s t test was used to analyze continuous data. Multiple comparisons for proportions and correlations were made using Fisher Exact test and Pearson′s coefficient of correlation, respectively. Results: Thirty three patients were included in this study. In NPS, sharp pain was the most common symptom and itching was the least common. Almost all patients had more than one type of pain. The mean VAS was 53 mm. In SFMPQ, the sensory score, affective score and the present pain score fell in the moderate range. In SF-36, physical functioning was the most affected and social function was the least affected. Conclusions: PDN significantly affects patients′ quality of life, especially physical function and role limitation due to a physical problem. Almost all patients have many types of pain and sharp pain is the most common

Effectiveness of home rehabilitation for ischemic stroke

The objective of this study was to develop and examine the effectiveness of an individual home rehabilitation program for patients with ischemic stroke. This was a randomized controlled trial in 60 patients with recent middle cerebral artery infarction. After hospital discharge for acute stroke care, they were randomly assigned to receive either a home rehabilitation program for three months (intervention group) or usual care (control group). We collected outcome data over three months after their discharge from the hospital. The Barthel Index (BI), the Modified Rankin Scale (MRS), the health-related quality-of-life index (EQ-5D), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression score (HADs), and the Thai Mental State Examination (TMSE) were used to analyze the outcomes. In the intervention group, all outcomes were significantly better (p<0.05) than in the control group, except in the case of TMSE. A favorable outcome, which was defined as minimal or no disability as measured by BI (score 95-100), was achieved by 93.33% of patients in the intervention group, and 90% had favorable scores (0 or 1) on the MRS. This showed a benefit in reducing disability, with two being the number of patients considered as needed-to-treat (NNT) (95% CI, 1.0-1.2). All dimensions of EQ-5D in the intervention group were significantly better for quality of life and generic health status than in the control group (p=0.001). Depression was found in one patient (3.33%) in the intervention group and in two patients (6.67%) in the control group. Dementia was found in three patients (10%) in the intervention group and in four patients (13.33%) in the control group. We concluded that an early home rehabilitation program for patients with ischemic stroke in the first three-month period provides significantly better outcomes in improving function, reducing disability, increasing quality of life, and reducing depression than a program of usual care does

Effectiveness of home

rehabilitation for ischemic strok