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Background: This study's purpose was to demonstrate a relationship between growth of stroke volume measured on Diffusion-Weighted MRI (DWI) at admission (baseline) and 24 hours later (follow-up) and functional outcome at 90 days evaluated by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS)., Methods: DWI infarct volumes were calculated, using an Analyze Software. Clinical outcomes were assessed at 90 days by the mRS. Univariate regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between changes in DWI lesion volume and mRS less or equal to 1., Results: Sixty-nine cases had serial DWI scans with a measurable lesion at baseline and follow-up. The median baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was 10, 5 and 7 at 24 hours. At 90 days, the proportion of patients with Rankin less or equal to 1 was 51.7%. The average baseline volume was 19.7 cm(3) and average follow-up volume was 46.1 cm(3). For each 10 cm(3) of growth in DWI infarct volume, the odds ratio for a mRS less or equal to 1 was 10,1 (IC 95%, 3-33.9)., Conclusion: The results of this study provide evidence of a significant inverse relationship between infarct growth measured by DWI and good functional clinical outcome at 90 days., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

A 51 year old patient who worked in Africa for eight years, presented twelve years later a progressive ataxia associated with headaches. Neuroimaging studies done after a partial complex seizure demonstrated multiple supra and sub-tentorial cortical ring enhancing lesions. Histoplasma capsulatum histoplasmosis was found on histological examination of brain biopsy and confirmed by isolation of the fungus. Medical treatment with intravenous amphotericin B followed by oral itraconazole (400 mg per day) improved both clinical and radiological status. This observation of cerebral histoplasmosis is rather unusual for a seronegative HIV patient in a non endemic area.