Recurrent Coma Research Articles

Genes Associated with Coma or Recurrent Coma and Role of Next Generation Sequencing in Diagnosis of Disease-Causing Genes

Genes Associated with Coma or Recurrent Coma and Role of Next Generation Sequencing in Diagnosis of Disease-Causing Genes

Disturbances of Amino Acid Metabolism in Neurologic Disorders detected by fluorescent high performance liquid chromotograghy (HPLC) in Baghdad - IRAQ

Background:Amino acid disorders are a major group of inborn error metabolism (IEM) with variable clinical presentation; its diagnosis constitutes a real challenge in a community with high consanguinity rate and no systematic newborn screening.
 Objectives: to provide data about amino acid disorders detected in high-risk Iraqi children by using quantitative amino acid fluorescent high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis.
 Type of the study: Cross-sectional study.
 Methods: a descriptive cross sectional study from 1st February to 1st December 2014, at Neurological ward and clinic of the Children Welfare teaching Hospital, in Baghdad - Iraq. Plasma specimens of 500 patients, with clinical suspicion of inborn error of metabolism (IEM) because of unexplained neurological deficits, unexplained developmental delay, recurrent coma and/or Neuro-degeneration, hair changes and/or lethargy, poor feeding, vomiting and selected cases of autistic spectrum syndrome or with positive screening, were analyzed for amino acids by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The amino acid disorders were confirmed in fifty patients were; clinical data of patients were reported and analyzed statistically.
 Results: out of 500 patients visiting the neurological outpatient and ward, clinical and neurological finding were recorded as well as the family history and/or other symptoms suggestive of aminoacidopathy, Sixty patients were confirmed their diagnosis as amino acid disorders, ten patients were excluded because they lost the follow up or there is no solid base for a causal relationship between detected abnormal amino acids and neurological disorders, therefore only 50 patients were
 
 enrolled in the study. Patients with Phenylketonuria were the most frequent 24 (48%), homocystinuria 14 (28%), maple syrup urine disease 9 (18%) & other amino acid disorder, (Citrullinemia, non-ketotic hyperglycinemia & Tyrosinemia) 1for each disorder (2%). Considerable delay in diagnosis was noticed which lead to variable neurological abnormalities in most patients and the psychomotor delay was the main clinical presentation at time of diagnosis 34 (68%).
 Conclusion: in the absence of newborn screening, the majority of Aminoacidopathies cases was still diagnosed clinically, but delayed. The importance of clinical awareness and accurate biochemical analysis were the key tools for diagnosis and the necessity for a comprehensive national newborn screening program. 

Recurrent coma and fever in familial hemiplegic migraine type 2. A prospective 15-year follow-up of a large family with a novel ATP1A2 mutation.

Background Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is a rare monogenic migraine subtype characterised by attacks associated with transient motor weakness. Clinical information is mainly based on reports of small families with only short follow-up. Here, we document a prospective 15-year follow-up of an extended family with FHM type 2. Patients and methods After diagnosing FHM in a patient with severe attacks associated with coma and fever, we identified eight more family members with FHM and one with possible FHM. All family members were prospectively followed for 15 years. In total 13 clinically affected and 21 clinically non-affected family members were genetically tested and repeatedly investigated. Results A novel p.Arg348Pro ATP1A2 mutation was found in 14 family members: 12 with clinical FHM, one with psychomotor retardation and possible FHM, and one without FHM features. In 9/12 (75%) family members with genetically confirmed FHM, attacks were severe, long-lasting, and often associated with impaired consciousness and fever. Such attacks were frequently misdiagnosed and treated as viral meningitis or stroke. Epilepsy was reported in three family members with FHM and in the one with psychomotor retardation and possible FHM. Ataxia was not observed. Conclusion FHM should be considered in patients with recurrent coma and fever.

Portosystemic shunts: An underdiagnosed but treatable cause of neurological and psychiatric disorders

Portosystemic shunts (PSS) remain an unrecognized cause of neurological or psychiatric disorders. Here we report 5 patients with neuropsychiatric presentations of PSS. Main presentations encompassed progressive Parkinsonism, organic psychosis, recurrent coma, recurrent delusion, cognitive decline and posterior cortical atrophy. None of our patients had a known history of liver disease and laboratory analyses of liver function were normal or only slightly perturbed. Only 16 similar cases of PSS revealed by neurological or psychiatric symptoms were found in the English literature. Clinical presentations were similar to our patients but asterixis, cerebellar symptoms and spastic paraparesis were noticed in some cases. EEG could be normal or could show non specific slow waves or even, rarely, triphasic slow waves. The most frequent and specific diagnostic features included hyperammonemia, abnormal brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy and visualization of the shunts by ultrasonography or abdominal imaging techniques. Therefore, in otherwise unexplained neuropsychiatric disturbances, ammonia should be routinely measured and, if elevated, a dedicated gastroenterologist or an expert radiologist should be consulted for potential PSS examination. Treatment of the shunts or of the hyperammonemia resulted in marked neurological or psychiatric improvement in all cases.

A case of Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy without arrhythmias

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is characterized by recurrent coma, ventricular tachycardias and the replacement of the myocardium with fatty and fibrous tissue. We described a 42-year-old female patient without clinical arrhythmias which was diagnosed as ARVC by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but the transvenous endomyocardial biopsy was not specific. The patient received heart transplantation due to her refractory heart failure and the pathology of explanted heart demonstrated typical replacement of fatty and fibrous tissue and piles of infiltrated lymphocytes in myocardial tissue. It is concluded that ARVC might not have any arrhythmias and inflammatory process may be involved in the mechanism of ARVC.Virtual slidesThe virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/6573514507145351

NEUROLOGIC MANIFESTATION OF ORGANIC ACADEMIA

Inborn errors of organic acid metabolism are relatively recently recognized diseases with a wide spectrum of clinical signs and symptoms: ranging from asymptomatic, normal appearing children to death during first few days of life.In my presentation I will try to explain some of the most common clinical presentation of these disorder with stress on neurologic findings. Organic acidemia usually have three clinical manifestations Severe neonatal form, Intermittent late-onset form and chronic progressive form. Recurrent coma, The main feature of these disorders is due to accumulation of toxic metabolites in Central Nervous system with direct effect on the function, while chronic accumulation of these materials may interfere with CNS development or cerebral metabolism leading to developmental delay.Severe neonatal formsFollowing a symptom free interval of a few days from birth, poor sucking and difficult feeding appears in the newborn, followed by unexplained and progressive coma. Seizures may appear during the course of the disease and EEG may show a burst-suppression pattern. During this stage most infants have axial hypotonia with peripheral dystonia, choreoathetosis, episodic opisthotonus and some repetitive bicycling and boxing movements.Associated biochemical abnormalities including metabolic acidosis, ketonuria and hyperammonemia also is usually present. The overall short-term prognosis with recent advances in medical care is improving. But later in life acute intercurrent episodes triggered by a stress often occur, which can be occasionally fatal.bulging fontanelle and cerebral edema may mimic CNS infection in these babies.Intermittent late-onset formsRecurrent attacks of coma or lethargy with ataxia can occur in childhood or even in adolescence or adulthood. These episodes may be frequent, though in between these the child is entirely normal. These attacks are precipitated by conditions that enhance protein catabolism (trauma, infection etc).Sometimes these episodes can lead to death or severe sequel. Seizure disorder is one of these sequels which is generalized in type with myoclonic seizure in infancy and childhood and later tonic-clonic and atypical absence seizures predominate. Also many of the survivors have acute or progressive extra pyramidal syndrome due to bilateral necrosis of basal ganglia.Chronic progressive formsNon specific Developmental delay, hypotonia, muscular weakness, microcephaly and seizures are rarely the only revealing signs in organic acidemia without any acute presentation.Seizures may become refractory to Anti Epileptic Drugs. In addition many asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic infants have been identified during tandem mass spectrometry newborn screening program. Cognitive deterioration associated with movement disorder such as dystonia or chorea may be caused by any form of organic aciduria.

Coma Blisters in 2 Children on Anticonvulsant Medication

Blister formation and eccrine sweat gland necrosis have been recognized to occur in states of impaired consciousness and were first reported following barbiturate intoxication. Their etiology is complex and cannot simply be explained by pressure effects. Now that barbiturates are less frequently used, clinicians are likely to be less aware of the phenomenon of coma blister formation; however, newer drugs have also been associated with the occurrence of coma blisters. We describe 2 new associations of coma blisters and anticonvulsants in children. In the first child, blisters recurred on multiple occasions along with obtundation and edema. Our aims are to alert clinicians to the occurrence of coma blisters in children sedated on anticonvulsant medications and to report the new finding of recurrent coma blisters.

Recurrent coma in a patient with childhood bladder injury

Recurrent coma in a patient with childhood bladder injury

Serial diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in adult-onset citrullinaemia

A 25-year-old Chinese man presented with a 2-year history of recurrent coma. His plasma ammonia level was extremely elevated, with raised citrulline level and absence of argininosuccinic acid. Adult-onset citrullinaemia, a condition rarely reported outside the Japanese population, was diagnosed. Serial magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, including diffusion-weighted (DW) studies, showed initial involvement of the insula cortex and cingulate gyrus, changing to a pattern of multiple small lesions in the depths of the cortical sulci. This changing pattern of lesions over time on DW MR imaging has not previously been described in adult-onset citrullinaemia.

A case of multiple intrahepatic portal-hepatic venous shunts with hepatic coma as the first diagnostic clue.

We have reported a rare case of multiple intrahepatic portal-hepatic venous shunts, who developed hepatic coma as the first clinical manifestation.A 60-year-old female was entered to our hospital because of recurrent coma attacks accompanied with hyperammonemia and triphasic wave on EEG. Laboratory data were almost normal except for hyperammonemia and retardation of ICG, and marked increase of heart/liver ratio was found on 201Tl perrectal scintigraphy. Imaging studies using ultrasonography, CT during arterial portography (CT-AP) and MRI suggested multiple intrahepatic portal-hepatic venous shunts, and hepatic venography demonstrated a total of eight macroscopic shunts retrogradely. There was no finding of chronic liver disease on peritoneoscopy or histopathological study of liver specimen. Administration of lactulose and branched chain amino acids has improved serum ammonium level, and she has been completely free of hepatic encephalopathy after medication.