Search

There has recently been interest in neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) as the disorder has been better characterized. Nms is still poorly recognized, however, by most physicians. Hyperpyrexia, rigidity, altered consciousness, autonomic instability, and enzymatic evidence of muscle breakdown after drug intake are the cardinal features. The authors of this article review the proposed pathogenesis, complications, and treatment of NMS.

Objective: To systematically review outcomes in comatose survivors after cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Methods: The authors analyzed studies (1966 to 2006) that explored predictors of death or unconsciousness after 1 month or unconsciousness or severe disability after 6 months. Results: The authors identified four class I studies, three class II studies, and five class III studies on clinical findings and circumstances. The indicators of poor outcome after CPR are absent pupillary light response or corneal reflexes, and extensor or no motor response to pain after 3 days of observation (level A), and myoclonus status epilepticus (level B). Prognosis cannot be based on circumstances of CPR (level B) or elevated body temperature (level C). The authors identified one class I, one class II, and nine class III studies on electrophysiology. Bilateral absent cortical responses on somatosensory evoked potential studies recorded 3 days after CPR predicted poor outcome (level B). Burst suppression or generalized epileptiform discharges on EEG predicted poor outcomes but with insufficient prognostic accuracy (level C). The authors identified one class I, 11 class III, and three class IV studies on biochemical markers. Serum neuron-specific enolase higher than 33 μg/L predicted poor outcome (level B). Ten class IV studies on brain monitoring and neuroimaging did not provide data to support or refute usefulness in prognostication (level U). Conclusion: Pupillary light response, corneal reflexes, motor responses to pain, myoclonus status epilepticus, serum neuron-specific enolase, and somatosensory evoked potential studies can reliably assist in accurately predicting poor outcome in comatose patients after cardiopulmonary resuscitation for cardiac arrest.

OBJECTIVE: To document the criteria used to declare brain death in a pediatric critical care unit (PCCU). DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Regional PCCU in southwestern Ontario. PATIENTS: Sixty patients 16 years of age or less declared brain dead from January 1987 through December 1992. OUTCOME MEASURES: Presence or absence of documentation of irreversible deep coma, nonresponsive cranial nerves, absent brain-stem reflexes, persistent apnea after removal from ventilator, presence or absence of blood flow detected by radioisotope scanning, presence or absence of electroencephalographic evidence of electrocerebral activity. RESULTS: The 60 patients accounted for 1.5% of all PCCU admissions; 17 were under 1 year of age. In 39 cases brain death was diagnosed using clinical criteria ("certified brain death"), which could not be fully applied in the remaining 21 cases ("uncertifiable but suspected brain death"). Electroencephalography and cerebral blood-flow studies with technetium-99m hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime were used as ancillary tests in 16 patients with certified brain death and in 17 with uncertifiable but suspected brain death who survived long enough to be tested. Electrocerebral silence was demonstrated in all nine patients who underwent electroencephalography. Cerebral blood flow was undetectable in 26 of the 30 patients tested, and an abnormal pattern of blood flow was seen in the remaining 4, all of whom received a diagnosis of certified brain death. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatricians in this large tertiary care referral centre are using clinical criteria based on the 1987 guidelines of the CMA to diagnose brain death in pediatric patients, including neonates. When clinical criteria cannot be fully applied, ancillary methods of investigation are consistently used. Although the soundness of this pattern of practice is established for adults and older children, its applicability to neonates and infants still needs to be validated.

Ipsilateral third nerve palsy with early pupillary enlargement is an important sign of transtentorial herniation from a supratentorial mass lesion. A case of frontal, intraparenchymal haemorrhage is reported in which the first ocular manifestation of transtentorial herniation was enlargement of the contralateral pupil. The ipsilateral pupil dilated only after complete oculomotor palsy of the contralateral eye. After partial frontal lobectomy and removal of blood clot, the ipsilateral third nerve recovered before the contralateral third nerve. Clinical findings localised the contralateral third nerve lesion to an extra-axial site. The possible mechanisms of contralateral third nerve compression are discussed. This seems to be the first example of pupillary enlargement as a false localising sign from a contralateral, supratentorial, intraparenchymal mass lesion.

Effect of Continuous Infusion of Morphine on the Electroencephalogram of Infants, Admitted to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

The Edinburgh Breast Screening Clinic in its first year completed the initial screening examination of 3005 invited women, who were apparently in good health, aged between 40 and 60 years; 141 were referred for a surgical opinion; 70 women ultimately underwent biopsy and 9 proved to have carcinoma. The indications for biopsy are described together with methods of management of the various lesions.

Myo-inositol was given orally to nine multiple sclerosis patients and nine healthy control subjects. Pattern reversal evoked potential testing was used to assess its effect. The principal positive wave increased in amplitude, duration and area in a dose-dependent manner in the multiple sclerosis group compared with controls. Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of myo-inositol in multiple sclerosis and controls were similar. The significance of these observations is discussed in relation to recent discoveries in inositol phospholipid function.

Two weeks after gastric partitioning for morbid obesity, a 45-year-old woman experienced persistent vomiting that led to a weight loss of 30 kg over 6 weeks. Wernicke's encephalopathy and peripheral neuropathy developed. The Wernicke's encephalopathy responded well to the administration of thiamine. This is one of very few reported cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy following gastric partitioning.

To the Editor: —In the report of the transactions of the House of Delegates at Atlantic City (The Journal, June 15, p. 1904), appears the report submitted by the Committee on National Public Health Legislation. The report is signed by various members of the committee, but my signature does not appear. The explanation of this is that I was not consulted in regard to the contents of the report, was not permitted to see it before it was transmitted, and consequently had no opportunity so sign it. Of course, this is more a matter of importance from the standpoint of good manners, both official and personal, than it is of ethics, and therefore hardly worth while being concerned about, but inasmuch as the House of Delegates conferred on me the honor of designating me as a member of the national committee, I deem it proper to explain to the members

In the fall of 1913 the department for the first time published a complete handbook for the bureau of medical inspection, and in that connection made quite extensive changes in the methods hitherto employed in connection with quarantine. Owing to unavoidable delays in connection with the budget, etc., the changes were not put fully into effect until March 15, 1914. Our experience with classified quarantine from March 15 to November 1 has been quite instructive. As a preliminary explanation let me give a summary of the methods of quarantine now enforced by the department. The result sought is to avoid the imposition of all restraint upon the family of the patient when consistent with effective isolation of the patient and "carriers," the object being, in brief, to quarantine the public out and to quarantine the patient in. To this end the following rules will be enforced: A.—Isolation with Trained Attendant

Cooling of the skin over the medial supraorbital region in 80% of patients who have an occlusion or severe stenosis of a carotid artery can be demonstrated by facial thermography. Minor stenotic lesions in the carotid arteries do not produce characteristic thermographic changes, while thermography is of no help in the diagnosis of vertebrobasilar arterial disease. Thermographic changes suggestive of carotid arterial lesions are found occasionally in patients whose angiograms are normal, owing to variations in the size of the frontal sinuses, or factors such as fever or inflammatory lesions. It is suggested that facial thermography is of value in the preliminary investigation of patients with occlusive cerebrovascular disease.

We report two cases of serious intracerebral haemorrhage occurring in young women following their first use of oral medications containing catecholaminergic agents (phenylpropanolamine in combination with ephedrine or pseudoephedrine). Both women were previously well, and there was no evidence for systemic vasculitis, coagulopathy, aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation. Angiography in both cases, performed approximately forty hours following drug ingestion, revealed the beading pattern typical of that seen in previously reported cases of presumed amphetamine-induced "vasculitis." We believe that this arteriographic abnormality is non-specific and should not be construed as necessarily indicative of arteritis.