Neurologic presentations of gastrointestinal disease

Neurological Complications of Gastrointestinal Disease

There is a growing interest in the extraintestinal manifestations of common pediatric gastrointestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease and celiac disease. This article specifically focuses on the neurological symptoms that manifest because of these disorders and their treatments. Many neurological symptoms have been reported in association with these diseases, including neuropathy, myopathy, ataxia, headache, and seizures, among others. It is currently believed that these neurological symptoms are largely overlooked by practitioners and could be a red flag for earlier diagnosis. However, additional research, especially in the pediatric population, is warranted to further elaborate on the causality and pathophysiology of these neurological symptoms.

The evaluation of hearing loss in children with celiac disease

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Celiac disease (CD) is an autoimmune enteropathy. The disease may be presented with extraintestinal manifestations including neurological findings. Epilepsy and ataxia are well known neurological disorders in CD. But there are very limited numbers of reports on sensory-neural hearing loss in CD in the literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the hearing functions in children with newly diagnosed CD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ninety-seven (194 ears) [56 girls, 41 boys (age range: 1.5-17 years)] newly diagnosed celiac disease patients and 85 sex and age-matched controls (170 ears) were included in this study. Hearing function was assessed by pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, tympanometry and otoacoustic emissions measurements.

RESULTS

No significant difference were found between the patients and control groups measurements including the pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, tympanometry and otoacoustic emissions No significant difference was found for pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, tympanometry and otoacoustic emissions measurements in celiac patients according to the Marsh-Oberhuber classification (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results showed that hearing functions of children with newly diagnosed CD were similar to healthy controls.

Neurogenic bowel dysfunction in patients with spinal cord injury, myelomeningocele, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease

Exciting new features have been described concerning neurogenic bowel dysfunction, including interactions between the central nervous system, the enteric nervous system, axonal injury, neuronal loss, neurotransmission of noxious and non-noxious stimuli, and the fields of gastroenterology and neurology. Patients with spinal cord injury, myelomeningocele, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease present with serious upper and lower bowel dysfunctions characterized by constipation, incontinence, gastrointestinal motor dysfunction and altered visceral sensitivity. Spinal cord injury is associated with severe autonomic dysfunction, and bowel dysfunction is a major physical and psychological burden for these patients. An adult myelomeningocele patient commonly has multiple problems reflecting the multisystemic nature of the disease. Multiple sclerosis is a neurodegenerative disorder in which axonal injury, neuronal loss, and atrophy of the central nervous system can lead to permanent neurological damage and clinical disability. Parkinson's disease is a multisystem disorder involving dopaminergic, noradrenergic, serotoninergic and cholinergic systems, characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. Parkinson's disease affects several neuronal structures outside the substantia nigra, among which is the enteric nervous system. Recent reports have shown that the lesions in the enteric nervous system occur in very early stages of the disease, even before the involvement of the central nervous system. This has led to the postulation that the enteric nervous system could be critical in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease, as it could represent the point of entry for a putative environmental factor to initiate the pathological process. This review covers the data related to the etiology, epidemiology, clinical expression, pathophysiology, genetic aspects, gastrointestinal motor dysfunction, visceral sensitivity, management, prevention and prognosis of neurogenic bowel dysfunction patients with these neurological diseases. Embryological, morphological and experimental studies on animal models and humans are also taken into account.