A Rare Presentation of Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension

A 55-year-old man presented with coma induced by spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). In magnetic resonance imaging, sagging and restricted diffusion in the splenium of the corpus callosum, diffuse pachymeningeal enhancement, and bilateral subdural hematomas were observed. Cerebrospinal fluid leakage was detected in the thoracic region and the patient was treated with a targeted epidural blood patch. After the treatment, the lesion in the corpus callosum disappeared without any residual abnormality and the patient fully recovered. SIH can be life-threatening and result in various clinical manifestations from mild orthostatic headache to deep coma. Targeted epidural blood patch treatment seems effective and lifesaving. SIH should be considered in the differential diagnosis of transient corpus callosum splenium lesio

A case report of Ogilvie's syndrome in an ischemic stroke patient

Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (ACPO), also known as Ogilvie’s Syndrome, is a clinical condition with acute dilatation of the colon without a provable cause. Early recognition and treatment of the condition is important in order to improve the outcome(1). An 86 year old right handed male patient, with an acute ischemic infarction in the area supplied by the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) anterior divison, was internalised to our intensive care unit of Neurology Department. Seventeen days after onset of the stroke, the patient, whose vitals, blood electrolite levels and oxygene saturation kept stabile developed an abdominal distention. He didn’t have any fecal excretion for 2 days and his rectum was found to be empty on the rectal touche’ examination. His lateral decubit abdominal x-rays were suspicious for sigmoid volvulus. His abdominal CT was also suspicious for mesoaxial volvulus, so the patient underwent a colonoscopy at the gastro enterology department. The colonoscope has reached the hepatic flexure but no volvulus has been observed. As the result of the colonoscopy the patient is diagnosed as acute colonic pseudoobstruction(Ogilvie’s Syndrome). With conservative treatment, fecal excretion has been provided in 24 hours. Here, we want to take attention that, Ogilvie’s syndrome, in which early diagnosis and treatment decreases mortality and morbidity rates, can also be seen in stroke patients and is one of the emergent situations which should be kept in mind for stroke patients who have abdominal distention and constipation

CORRECTION to: Clinical and demographic characteristics and two-year efficacy and safety data of 508 multiple sclerosis patients with fingolimod treatment (Archives of Neuropysychiatry, 60, 23)

The name of the author Gökçe Sözer was mistakenly written as Gökçe Sezer. The correct name and institution are as follows

mRNA versus inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccines in multiple sclerosis: Humoral responses and protectivity—Does it matter?

Background: COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Adequate humoral responses are obtained in pwMS receiving disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) after vaccination, with the exception of those receiving B-cell-depleting therapies and non-selective S1P modulators. However, most of the reported studies on the immunity of COVID-19 vaccinations have included mRNA vaccines, and information on inactivated virus vaccine responses, long-term protectivity, and comparative studies with mRNA vaccines are very limited. Here, we aimed to investigate the association between humoral vaccine responses and COVID-19 infection outcomes following mRNA and inactivated virus vaccines in a large national cohort of pwMS receiving DMTs. Methods: This is a cross-sectional and prospective multicenter study on COVID-19-vaccinated pwMS. Blood samples of pwMS with or without DMTs and healthy controls were collected after two doses of inactivated virus (Sinovac) or mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccines. PwMS were sub-grouped according to the mode of action of the DMTs that they were receiving. SARS-CoV-2 IgG titers were evaluated by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. A representative sample of this study cohort was followed up for a year. COVID-19 infection status and clinical outcomes were compared between the mRNA and inactivated virus groups as well as among pwMS subgroups. Results: A total of 1484 pwMS (1387 treated, 97 untreated) and 185 healthy controls were included in the analyses (male/female: 544/1125). Of those, 852 (51.05%) received BioNTech, and 817 (48.95%) received Sinovac. mRNA and inactivated virus vaccines result in similar seropositivity; however, the BioNTech vaccination group had significantly higher antibody titers (7.175±10.074) compared with the Sinovac vaccination group (823±1.774) (p<0.001). PwMS under ocrelizumab, fingolimod, and cladribine treatments had lower humoral responses compared with the healthy controls in both vaccine types. After a mean of 327±16 days, 246/704 (34.9%) of pwMS who were contacted had COVID-19 infection, among whom 83% had asymptomatic or mild disease. There was no significant difference in infection rates of COVID-19 between participants vaccinated with BioNTech or Sinovac vaccines. Furthermore, regression analyses show that no association was found regarding age, sex, Expanded Disability Status Scale score (EDSS), the number of vaccination, DMT type, or humoral antibody responses with COVID-19 infection rate and disease severity, except BMI Body mass index (BMI). Conclusion: mRNA and inactivated virus vaccines had similar seropositivity; however, mRNA vaccines appeared to be more effective in producing SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. B-cell-depleting therapies fingolimod and cladribine were associated with attenuated antibody titer. mRNA and inactive virus vaccines had equal long-term protectivity against COVID-19 infection regardless of the antibody status

The Effect of Smoking on Inactivated and mRNA Vaccine Responses Applied to Prevent COVİD-19 in Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the biggest health challenge of recent times. Studies so far reveal that vaccination is the only way to prevent this pandemic. There may be factors that decrease or increase vaccine effectiveness. In multiple sclerosis (MS), some of these factors may cause changes in the effectiveness of the vaccine, depending on the nature of the disease and disease-modifying treatments (DMT). In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between antibody titer and smoking in non-treated and DMT-treated MS patients who received inactivated vaccine (Sinovac) and messenger RNA BNT162b2 (BioNTech) mRNA vaccines. Method: Vaccine antibody responses were measured between 4–12 weeks after two doses of inactivated vaccine and mRNA vaccines. Patients were separated into 6 groups as: patients with MS without treatment PwMS w/o T, ocrelizumab, fingolimod, interferons (interferon beta-1a and interferon beta-1b), dimethyl fumarate, and teriflunomide. Antibody titers of smokers and non-smokers were compared for both vaccines and for each group. Results: The study included 798 patients. In the mRNA vaccine group, smokers (n=148; 2982±326 AU/mL) had lower antibody titers compared to the non-smokers (n=244; 5903±545 AU/mL) in total (p=0.020). In the inactivated vaccine group, no significant difference was detected between smokers (n=136; 383±51 AU/mL) and non-smokers (n=270; 388±49 AU/mL) in total (p=0.149). In both vaccine groups, patients receiving ocrelizumab and fingolimod had lower antibody titers than those receiving other DMTs or PwMS w/o T. In untreated MS patients, antibody levels in smokers were lower than in non-smokers in the mRNA vaccine group. No difference was found between antibody levels of smokers and non-smokers in any of the inactivated vaccine groups. Conclusion: Ocrelizumab and fingolimod have lower antibody levels than PwMS w/o T or other DMTs in both mRNA and inactivated vaccine groups. Smoking decreases antibody levels in the mRNA vaccine group, while it has no effect in the inactivated vaccine group

Clinical and Demographic Characteristics and Two-Year Efficacy and Safety Data of 508 Multiple Sclerosis Patients with Fingolimod Treatment

Introduction: Fingolimod is the first oral immunomodulatory treatment used as secondary care therapy in the treatment of multiple sclerosis for the last 10 years. The objective of our study is to reveal the experiences of the first generic fingolimod active ingredient treatment in different centers across Turkey. Method: The first generic fingolimod efficacy and safety data of patients followed-up in 29 different clinical multiple sclerosis units in Turkey were analyzed retrospectively. Data regarding efficacy and safety of the patients were transferred to the data system both before the treatment and on the 6th, 12th and 24th month following the treatment. The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS 20.00. P value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: A total of 508 multiple sclerosis patients, 331 of whom were women, were included in the study. Upon comparing the Expanded Disability Status values before and after the treatment, a significant decrease was observed, especially at month 6 and thereafter. Since bradycardia occurred in 11 of the patients (2.3%), the first dose had to be longer than 6 hours. During the observation of the first dose, no issues that could prevent the use of the drug occured. Side effects were seen in 49 (10.3%) patients during the course of fingolimod treatment. Respectively, the most frequent side effects were bradycardia, hypotension, headache, dizziness and tachycardia. Conclusion: The observed results regarding efficacy and safety were similar to clinical trial data in the literature and real life data in terms of the first equivalent with fingolimod active ingredient