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Biomedical subjects

Robert C Sergott

Publications and source records attributed to Robert C Sergott.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Pseudotumor cerebri.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss the current standard in diagnosis and treatment of pseudotumor cerebri (PTC), the syndrome of increased intracranial pressure without a brain tumor. Since PTC is a diagnosis of exclusion, the differential diagnostic work-up is of special importance. RECENT FINDINGS: Modern imaging techniques have facilitated the differential diagnosis of PTC. Various therapeutic options are available to prevent irreversible visual loss. New treatment modalities are being explored, but the standard therapy has undergone little change in the past years. SUMMARY: PTC, a potentially blinding disease, most commonly manifests with headache and slightly blurred vision due to papilledema. This review seeks to present a methodical approach to its diagnosis and treatment.

Acetazolamide↗
PubMed2002

Embolic central retinal artery occlusion detected by orbital color Doppler imaging.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the detection of emboli to the retrobulbar circulation using orbital color Doppler imaging in patients with central retinal artery occlusions (CRAO) without visible retinal emboli. DESIGN: Noncomparative, retrospective, observational case series. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine patients with CRAO, without funduscopic evidence of embolic material within the retinal arterioles, underwent neuroophthalmic examination and evaluation with orbital color Doppler imaging. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The detection of retrobulbar plaques using orbital color Doppler imaging. RESULTS: Nine of 29 (31%) patients with CRAO demonstrated hyperechoic retrobulbar plaques. All nine patients had visual acuity of counting fingers or worse at presentation. Six of the nine patients (67%) had a history of hypertension, and seven (78%) had coronary artery disease as vascular risk factors for arterial occlusive disease. Two of the nine patients (22%) subsequently died from cardiac-related events. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that orbital color Doppler imaging is an important diagnostic procedure for establishing embolism as the cause of CRAO when no emboli are visible in the retinal circulation. This noninvasive technology enables prompt differentiation of embolic disease from arterial occlusion caused by intrinsic atherosclerosis, vasospasm, or vasculitis from giant cell arteritis. Recognition of emboli has important management implications for these patients.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Thrombocytosis in patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the platelet counts, complete blood counts, and Westergren sedimentation rates (WESR) of patients with a biopsy positive for giant cell arteritis (GCA) with those of patients with negative biopsies. DESIGN: Retrospective, case-control series. METHOD: The medical records of 91 consecutive patients who underwent temporal artery biopsy for possible GCA, over an 8-year period, were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Values obtained for the complete blood counts, including platelet counts, WESR, and biopsy results of 91 consecutive patients undergoing temporal artery biopsy were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean platelet count of 47 patients with positive temporal artery biopsies (433 x 10(3)/microl) was significantly higher than that of 44 patients with negative temporal artery biopsies (277 x 10(3)/microl), P < 0.0001. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean WESR between the biopsy-positive (82 mm/hour) and biopsy-negative (70 mm/hour) groups, P = 0.12. The sensitivity of an elevated WESR for biopsy-positive patients was greater (79%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 64%-89%) than that of an elevated platelet count (57%; 95% CI, 42%-72%). However, the specificity (91% [95% CI, 78%-97%] versus 27% [95% CI, 15%-43%]), positive predictive value (87% [95% CI, 70%-96%] versus 54% [95% CI, 41%-66%]), and negative predictive value (67% [95% CI, 53%-78%] versus 55% [95% CI, 32%-76%]) favored an elevated platelet count compared with WESR, or to the combination of platelets and WESR, as a better test for diagnosing GCA in the 91 patients studied. The area under the receiver operating characteristic function for platelets (0.72) was greater than that for WESR (0.59) or the combination of platelets and WESR (0.65). CONCLUSIONS: In patients suspected of having GCA, an elevated platelet count greater than 400 x 10(3)/microl is a useful marker of a positive temporal artery biopsy.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy for the treatment of optic nerve sheath meningiomas: preliminary observations of 33 optic nerves in 30 patients with historical comparison to observation with or without prior surgery.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the safety and efficacy of stereotactic radiotherapy as an alternative therapy to surgical resection for optic nerve sheath meningiomas (ONSMs). METHODS: Thirty patients and 33 optic nerves with ONSMs were treated with conventional fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy treatment (CF-SRT) between July 1996 and May 2001 with the use of a 6-MeV LINAC designed for and dedicated to radiosurgery. The LINAC technique involved daily CF-SRT involving a relocatable frame, an average of three isocenters, and high-radiation dose conformality established by noncoplanar arc beam shaping and differential beam weighting. The patients who were treated with CF-SRT were followed clinically with serial visual fields and radiographically with both magnetic resonance imaging and functional (111)In-octreotide single-photon emission computed tomography. The results of treatment were compared with a historical control group of ONSM patients who were either observed or treated surgically and then observed. RESULTS: Our study population comprised 18 women and 12 men with a median age of 44 years (age range, 20-76 yr). The median isosurface radiation dose was 51 Gy (dose range, 50-54.0 Gy), and the median clinical follow-up time was 89 weeks (range, 9-284 wk). Of 22 optic nerves with vision before CF-SRT, 20 nerves (92%) demonstrated preserved vision, and 42% manifested improvement in visual acuity and/or visual field at follow-up. Comparison of our patients with a historical control group revealed preserved vision in only 16% of patients in a comparable period of observation, along with a 150% greater probability of visual improvement. Four patients (13%) had posttreatment morbidities, including visual loss (two patients), optic neuritis (one patient), and transient orbital pain (one patient). On magnetic resonance imaging studies, there was no evidence of tumor progression or recurrence in all patients, including tumor volume reductions noted in four patients. All six patients monitored with (111)In-octreotide scintigraphy demonstrated significant decreases in tumor activity after CF-SRT. CONCLUSION: To date, this article describes the largest reported series of ONSMs. Although longer follow-up is necessary, we think that CF-SRT represents a safe alternative to surgery and offers a higher likelihood of preserved or improved vision in patients with ONSM. Our analysis suggests that CF-SRT is also preferable to observation. Functional (111)In-octreotide single-photon emission computed tomographic scintigraphy provides a useful technique for the assessment of tumor control that complements serial posttreatment magnetic resonance imaging in patients with ONSMs.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy refers to an idiopathic ischemic process of the anterior portion of the optic nerve. The typical presentation is sudden and painless visual loss with examination features of an optic neuropathy. Among the various associated risk factors are optic disc morphology, advanced age, systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and nocturnal hypotension. Currently, there is no proven effective long-term treatment for this disorder.

Decompression, Surgical↗
PubMed2002

Is normal tension glaucoma actually an unrecognized hereditary optic neuropathy? New evidence from genetic analysis.

Normal tension glaucoma and dominant optic atrophy share many overlapping clinical features, and differentiating between these two diseases is often difficult. The gene responsible for dominant optic atrophy is the OPA1 gene located on chromosome 3. This gene encodes for a protein product that is involved in mitochondrial metabolic function. Recent genetic linkage analysis of patients with normal tension glaucoma has shown an association with polymorphisms of the OPA1 gene. This association suggests that normal tension glaucoma may actually be a hereditary optic neuropathy with a pathophysiology based in mitochondrial dysfunction.

Disease Progression↗
PubMed2002

Acute demyelinating optic neuritis.

Acute demyelinating optic neuritis associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common cause of inflammation of the optic nerve. The Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial (ONTT) has provided important clinical data on the use of corticosteroids, and demonstrated that patients with characteristic inflammatory lesions within the brain on magnetic resonance imaging had a greater chance of developing clinically definite MS (CDMS). The current approach to patients with optic neuritis has been modified by the results of the Controlled High-Risk Subjects Avonex Multiple Sclerosis Prevention Study (CHAMPS). Patients with an initial clinical episode of demyelination (optic neuritis, incomplete transverse myelitis, or brain-stem/cerebellar syndrome) and at least two characteristic demyelinating lesions within the brain were randomized to receive interferon beta-1a or placebo after initial treatment with intravenous corticosteroids. At the 3-year point patients treated with interferon beta-1a showed a 50% less risk of CDMS. The results of this study have set the standard for patients with a first bout of demyelinating optic neuritis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Unexplained visual loss.

Dominant optic atrophy is the most common heredodegenerative optic neuropathy. Typically, patients present with slowly progressive, bilaterally decreased central visual acuity. Subtle central or cecocentral visual field defect and normal peripheral isopters are demonstrated with perimetry. A defect in blue-yellow discrimination (tritan error axis) is the most common type of dyschromatopsia, however protan and deutan axes may be superimposed. A characteristic optic disk appearance includes temporal disk pallor with excavation. An autosomal dominant inheritance pattern can often be elicited from the family history.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Foggy vision.

A 53-year-old man with history of "foggy vision" was referred for neuro-ophthalmic consultation. His examination showed a right homonymous hemianopia detected with automated perimetry. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed extensive enhancement of the structures in the sellar region and patchy meningeal enhancement. Blood workup was unremarkable. He eventually had bronchoscopy, which confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoidosis.

Azathioprine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Jumping Jack Flash.

A 38-year-old woman presented with blurred vision and "jumping" of the right eye for 7 months. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head was normal. Intermittent intorsion of the right eye was noted on examination, consistent with superior oblique myokymia. She was initially treated with carbamazepine but stopped after becoming light-headed. The diagnosis and treatment of superior oblique myokymia are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

New ways to look at an old problem.

A 32-year-old man presented with optic neuritis (papillitis). A discussion of optic neuritis, the role of magnetic resonance imaging, and possible treatment options are presented. The role of optical coherence tomography in following patients with optic neuritis is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A sticky situation.

A 19-year-old woman presented with frontal headaches, papilledema, and binocular horizontal double vision due to a left VI nerve palsy. MRV demonstrated sagittal sinus and bilateral transverse sinus thrombosis. The clinical and neuro-radiologic signs resolved after anticoagulation.

Abducens Nerve Diseases↗