Neuro-Behçet: Pons Involvement with Longitudinal Extension to Midbrain and Hypertrophic Olivary Degeneration

Neurological involvement by Behçet's syndrome: clinical features, diagnosis, treatment and outcome

Neurological involvement in Behçet's syndrome arises predominately through an inflammatory meningoencephalitis characterised by perivenular inflammation due to activation of Th-17 immunological pathways. The brainstem is involved in 50% of cases, the diencephalon and other areas of the brain in 30%, and the spinal cord in 10%. Movement disorders and epilepsy may occur. Psychiatric syndromes may arise with brain and brainstem involvement, and cognitive disorders relate to the brain disease, to circulating inflammatory factors, and to fatigue and despondency. Eighty per cent of cases begin with a relapsing disease course, of whom 70% have only one attack, and 30% have a progressive disease course either from onset or following an initially relapsing course. Venous thrombosis leading to intracranial hypertension and cerebral venous infarction is less common and caused by inflammation in affected veins and a circulating prothrombotic state. Arterial involvement is rare and relates to an arteritis affecting large-sized and medium-sized vessels within the brain leading to infarction, subarachnoid and parenchymal haemorrhage, aneurysm formation and arterial dissection. There is a newly recognised disorder of cerebral cortical hypoperfusion. Cranial neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy and myositis are rare. There has been significant progress in understanding the pathophysiology and treatment of the systemic disease, leading to improved outcomes, but there has been no randomised trial of treatment in the neurological disorder.

Persistent hiccups and Horner's syndrome in a case of primary CNS lymphoma with diffuse cerebral, hypothalamic and lateral brainstem involvement - An exercise in clinical neuroanatomy

We present a case of a 42-year-old male presenting with persistent hiccups and a Horner's syndrome, among other symptoms and signs of hypothalamic and brainstem dysfunction. He had a biopsy-proven diffuse infiltrative large primary CNS B-cell lymphoma involving the left fronto-temporal hemisphere, diencephalon and brainstem. The aim of this case report is to highlight key clinical and neuro-anatomical correlations that bring light to the art of the clinical examination.

Neuro-Behcet's disease: An update on diagnosis, differential diagnoses, and treatment

Neuro-Behcet's disease (NBD) is defined as a combination of neurologic symptoms and/or signs in a patient with Behcet's disease (BD). Relevant syndromes include brainstem syndrome, multiple-sclerosis like presentations, movement disorders, meningoencephalitic syndrome, myelopathic syndrome, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), and intracranial hypertension. Central nervous involvement falls into parenchymal and non-parenchymal subtypes. The parenchymal type is more prevalent and presents as brainstem, hemispheric, spinal, and meningoencephalitic manifestations. Non-parenchymal type includes CVST and arterial involvement. Perivascular infiltration of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells is seen in most histo-pathologic reports. In parenchymal NBD, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) generally exhibits pleocytosis, increased protein and normal glucose. In NBD and CVST, CSF pressure is increased but content is usually normal. The typical acute NBD lesions in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are mesodiencephalic lesions. The pattern of extension from thalamus to midbrain provides a cascade sign. Brain MRI in chronic NBD usually shows brain or brainstem atrophy and/or black holes. The spinal MRI in the acute or subacute myelopathies reveals noncontiguous multifocal lesions mostly in cervical and thoracic lesions. In chronic patients, cord atrophy can also be seen. Brain MRI (particularly susceptibility-weighted images), MR venography (MRV) and computerized tomographic venography (CTV) can be used to diagnose CVST. Parenchymal NBD attacks can be treated with glucocorticoids alone or in combination with azathioprine. For patients with relapsing-remitting or progressive courses, shifting to more potent immunosuppressive drugs such as mycophenolate, methotrexate, cyclophosphamide, or targeted therapy is warranted. For NBD and CVST, immunosuppressive drugs with or without anticoagulation are suggested.

Right Ventricular Thrombus and Cerebral Artery Aneurysm in a Patient with Behçet's Disease

We report a 35-year-old woman referred to the Imam Ali Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran, in July 2014 for evaluation of postoperative dyspnoea after neurosurgery performed seven days previously for a ruptured cerebral artery aneurysm. She was known to have Behçet's disease with a history of recurrent oral and genital aphthous ulcers and uveitis. At referral, her symptoms included vertigo, dysarthria, palpitations and chest pain. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) revealed a large thrombus in her right ventricle outflow tract and open-heart surgery was performed eight days after the previous surgery to remove the clot. The postoperative period was complicated by transient acute renal failure, which resolved spontaneously. The patient was discharged 13 days after the cardiac surgery on warfarin, prednisolone, azathioprine and cyclophosphamide. Cyclophosphamide and azathioprine were discontinued after three months as the symptoms had completely resolved; however, prednisolone was continued due to recurrent uveitis. A 10-month follow-up TTE scan revealed no thrombus recurrence and treatment with warfarin and prednisolone was continued.