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Biomedical subjects

S L Galetta

Publications and source records attributed to S L Galetta.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Cyclodeviation in skew deviation.

We examined four patients with dorsolateral pontomedullary lesions and skew deviation, with ocular torsion of varying symmetry. In three patients, the hypotropic eye was excyclodeviated relative to the fellow eye. Observations of these patients, combined with recent evidence, suggest that cyclodeviation is a frequent component of skew deviation and may result from variable involvement of utricular, semicircular canal, and cerebelloocular pathways. Although cyclodeviation is a feature of trochlear-nerve palsies, its presence does not exclude skew deviation and underlying brainstem lesions.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Hemiachromatopsia of unilateral occipitotemporal infarcts.

Two patients developed unilateral occipitotemporal infarcts that produced inferior quadrantic achromatopsia and an accompanying superior quadrantanopia. Magnetic resonance imaging and single-photon emission computed tomographic studies of both patients supported the current view that color vision is encoded in the lingual and fusiform gyri. Although the quadrantic defect in color processing was profound, neither patient was aware of it. Simple bedside testing of patients with superior quadrantanopia may disclose an unrecognized quadrantic achromatopsia.

Aged↗
PubMed1994

Intensive care neurology.

Critical care neurology is a rapidly developing subspecialty of neurology. The neuro-intensivist is called upon to manage critically ill patients with stroke, neuromuscular disease, traumatic injury, increased intracranial pressure, and other disorders. Therapeutic and technologic advances are rapidly being incorporated into practice and will improve patient care and outcome.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed1994

Spontaneous remission of papilledema and sixth nerve palsy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Spontaneous regression of hematologic malignancies is not uncommon and occurs in a wide variety of lymphomas and leukemias. In contrast, spontaneous remission of neurologic symptoms produced by these tumors is exceedingly rare. We report a patient with central nervous system acute lymphoblastic leukemia who experienced at least one spontaneous remission of papilledema and sixth nerve palsy. This represents, to our knowledge, the first case of spontaneous remission of neuro-ophthalmologic signs in a patient with acute leukemia. We conclude that meningeal leukemia may have a protracted course, and that spontaneous remission of neuro-ophthalmologic findings should not be so readily ascribed to a benign process in a patient with preexisting leukemia.

Abducens Nerve↗
PubMed1994

Neuro-intensive care of the pregnant woman.

Pregnancy may exacerbate underlying neurologic illness or may precipitate an acute neurologic emergency such as pituitary apoplexy. Care is directed to both mother and fetus in a manner designed to optimize the physiologic stability of both. A "team approach" is often needed.

Critical Care↗
PubMed1994

Isolated fascicular abducens nerve palsy and Lyme disease.

A patient with Lyme disease developed an isolated sixth nerve palsy at the end of a 1 month course of oral antibiotics. Magnetic resonance imaging disclosed high-signal abnormality at the left pontomedullary junction, implicating involvement of the distal sixth nerve fascicle. Although facial numbness ensued during a subsequent course of intravenous antibiotics, corticosteroid therapy was associated with prompt improvement of neurologic signs, suggesting an immunologic mechanism for the central nervous system dysfunction.

Abducens Nerve↗
PubMed1993

The clinical spectrum of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

OBJECTIVE: A retrospective study was performed to delineate the clinical characteristics of symptomatic unruptured aneurysms. DESIGN: Patient histories, operative reports, and angiograms in 111 patients with 132 unruptured aneurysms were reviewed. SETTING: Tertiary care university hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred eleven patients with 132 unruptured intracranial aneurysms were studied. There were 85 women and 26 men, with a mean age of 51.2 years (age range, 11 to 77 years). Many patients were referred by community neurologists and neurosurgeons for further evaluation and neurosurgical management. RESULTS: Fifty-four symptomatic patients were identified. Group 1 (n = 19; mean aneurysm diameter, 2.1 cm) had acute symptoms: ischemia (n = 7), headache (n = 7), seizure (n = 3), and cranial neuropathy (n = 2). Group 2 (n = 35; mean aneurysm diameter, 2.2 cm) had chronic symptoms attributed to mass effect: headache (n = 18), visual loss (n = 10), pyramidal tract dysfunction (n = 4), and facial pain (n = 3). Group 3 (n = 57; mean aneurysm diameter, 1.1 cm) had asymptomatic aneurysms. CONCLUSIONS: Acute severe headache, comparable to subarachnoid hemorrhage headache, but without nuchal rigidity, was associated with the following mechanisms: aneurysm thrombosis, localized meningeal inflammation, and unexplained. Unruptured aneurysms may be misdiagnosed as optic neuritis or migraine, or serve as a nidus for cerebral thromboembolic events. Internal carotid artery and posterior circulation aneurysms were more likely to cause focal symptoms from mass effect than were anterior cerebral artery and middle cerebral artery aneurysms. Weeks to years may elapse before their diagnosis. The absence of subarachnoid blood does not exclude an aneurysm as a cause for acute or chronic neurologic symptoms.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1993

Delayed peripartum vasculopathy: cerebral eclampsia revisited.

Over a 2-year period, we treated 4 postpartum patients with acute neurologic problems appearing 4 to 9 days after delivery. Three patients either had no proteinuria or edema and therefore did not meet all accepted clinical criteria for the diagnosis of eclampsia. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain in all patients demonstrated high-signal foci most prominent in the parieto-occipital regions and the subcortical white matter. Cerebral angiogram in 2 patients revealed diffuse vasospasm. In 3 patients, MRI abnormalities resolved. MRI and angiographic abnormalities in our patients are identical to those of patients meeting accepted criteria for eclampsia. Our experience suggests that the current criteria for the diagnosis of eclampsia are too stringent, both in terms of clinical picture and days postpartum to cerebral manifestations.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Pretectal eyelid retraction and lag.

We report 2 patients who had eyelid retraction and eyelid lag with minimal impairment of vertical gaze. In both patients, magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a circumscribed unilateral lesion immediately rostral and dorsal to the red nucleus involving the lateral periaqueductal gray area. Our clinical and radiological findings support the existence of a premotor eyelid control center in the region of the nucleus of the posterior commissure.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Ocular tilt reaction resulting from vestibuloacoustic nerve surgery.

The ocular tilt reaction (OTR) is a triad of head-eye synkinesis composed of head tilt, conjugate ocular torsion in the direction of head tilt, and skew deviation. The OTR represents a normal compensatory response to lateral head tilts and is produced by activation of the utricle of the lowermost ear. A pathological OTR results when otolith activity is unopposed as the result of injury to the opposite utricle or its nerve. Vertical diplopia may be the only symptom of OTR in patients who have undergone surgery involving the vestibuloacoustic nerve. We report a series of patients with OTR after surgery for acoustic neuroma or Meniere's disease. In each patient, the manifesting symptom was vertical diplopia. Bedside neuro-ophthalmological testing readily excluded a brain stem cause for the double vision. We conclude that OTR after vestibuloacoustic surgery is a benign condition with spontaneous resolution of symptoms within several months.

Auditory Pathways↗
PubMed1993

Superficial siderosis of the central nervous system: magnetic resonance imaging and pathological correlation. Case report.

The authors report a 32-year-old woman who had undergone repair of an occipital encephalocele in infancy and who experienced a 20-year history of progressive hearing loss and intermittent vertigo. After parturition, she developed a rapidly progressive quadriparesis and brain-stem dysfunction associated with persistent intraventricular and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Serial magnetic resonance (MR) images showed progressive deposition of hemosiderin along the surface of the brain, brain stem, and spinal cord, and enhanced thickened membranes at the site of the original encephalocele repair. Posterior fossa exploration disclosed hemorrhagic membranes, which were resected; despite removal of this tissue, the patient deteriorated and died. Postmortem examination confirmed iron-containing pigment along the meninges, cerebral hemispheres, brain stem, spinal cord, and cranial nerves accompanied by atrophy of the superficial cerebellar cortex. It is concluded that superficial siderosis may accompany encephalocele repair. This is believed to be the first report in the literature of superficial siderosis of the central nervous system to correlate in vivo MR images with autopsy results.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Do thalamic lesions really cause vertical gaze palsies?

Two patients with thalamic infarctions presented with vertical gaze palsies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated extension of the lesions into the upper midbrain. A common vascular supply to both areas, and the inability of computed tomography (CT) scans to adequately assess posterior fossa structures, necessitate MRI of the mesencephalon in the assessment of all patients with vertical gaze dysfunction. These cases shed further doubt regarding a specific role of the thalamus in control of vertical eye movements.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Unilateral ptosis and contralateral eyelid retraction from a thalamic-midbrain infarction. Magnetic resonance imaging correlation.

We report a patient with a third nerve palsy and contralateral eyelid retraction from a thalamic-midbrain infarction. Magnetic resonance imaging confirms that this unusual clinical combination, previously termed "the plus-minus lid syndrome," results from a lesion in the region of the nucleus of the posterior commissure with extension to the third nerve fascicle.

Blepharoptosis↗
PubMed1993

SPECT in patients with cortical visual loss.

Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) was used to investigate changes in cerebral blood flow in seven patients with cortical visual impairment. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was the cause of cortical damage in two patients, cerebral ischemia in two patients and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, status epilepticus and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) each in three separate patients. The SPECT scans of the seven patients were compared to T2-weighted magnetic resonance image (MRI) scans of the brain to determine the correlation between functional and anatomical findings. In six of the seven patients, the qualitative interpretation of the SPECT studies supported the clinical findings (i.e., the visual field defect) by revealing altered regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the appropriate regions of the visual pathway. MR scans in all of the patients, on the other hand, were either normal or disclosed smaller lesions than those detected by SPECT. We conclude that SPECT may reveal altered rCBF in patients with cortical visual impairment of various etiologies, even when MRI studies are normal or nondiagnostic.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Risk factors for the neurologic complications associated with aortic aneurysms.

We reviewed the incidence of neurologic complications in 200 consecutive patients with aortic aneurysm or aortic dissection. In this 2-year period, neurologic impairment developed in 18.5% of these patients, and in 10 patients neurologic dysfunction heralded aortic rupture or dissection. Those patients with abnormal neurologic examinations at presentation frequently had aneurysm rupture or dissection and a mortality rate of 54%. Patients with thoracic or thoracoabdominal aneurysms were more likely to have neurologic complications than those with abdominal aneurysms. The most common complications were focal central nervous system ischemia, followed by disorders of consciousness and peripheral nerve complications. In patients who had elective aneurysm resection, female sex, aneurysm location, and intraoperative hypotension were risk factors for focal central nervous system ischemia. We conclude that neurologic complications depend on aneurysmal location, occur at various levels of the nervous system, and frequently develop when the intraoperative mean arterial pressure falls below 55 mm Hg.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Spontaneous remission of a third-nerve palsy in meningeal lymphoma.

We report on a patient with spontaneous remission of a third-nerve palsy who was subsequently found to have meningeal lymphoma. Initial magnetic resonance images (MRI) showed bilateral enhancement of the third nerves. Follow-up MRI 7 months later, without treatment, showed complete resolution. One year after initial presentation, the patient developed multiple lumbosacral radiculopathies and examination of a nerve root biopsy specimen disclosed a B-cell lymphoma. Serial cerebrospinal fluid analyses over the previous year showed occasional atypical cells, later found to resemble closely the biopsy cell type. We conclude that meningeal lymphoma may have a protracted course, with spontaneous remission of both clinical and neuroimaging findings.

Aged↗