Dural ectasia and intracranial hypotension in Marfan syndrome

INTRODUCTION

Marfan syndrome is an autosomal dominant, multi-systemic connective tissue di sorder of different presentations. Dural ectasia is a common, but little known complication that can be associated with intracranial hypotension syndrome (IHS).

OBJECTIVE

To present a case of severe headache secondary to IHS in order to warn about this rare complication, which must be considered in children carriers of connective tissue diseases, especially Marfan syndrome.

CLINICAL CASE

13-year- old female carrier of Marfan syndrome, clinically diagnosed according to the 2010 Ghent criteria, who consulted due to a 6-months history of severe orthostatic headache. Head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed multiple signs of intracranial hypotension, while whole-spine MRI showed dural ectasia that caused the thecal sac dilation and subsequent remodeling of vertebral bodies, es pecially the sacral ones. Treatment with an autologous epidural blood patch was administered with good clinical response.

CONCLUSIONS

Dural ectasia, frequent in Marfan syndrome, is a predisposing cause of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, which could cause orthostatic headache secondary to IHS.

Therapeutic approach to electric burn with platelet rich plasma, grafts and hyperbaric oxygenation

Contact electrical burns are more severe than other forms of contact burn injury. Moreover, treatment of hand burns is an important therapeutic challenge. We present a 17 year-old female of low voltage electric hand injury, admitted 5 days after injury. The patient was treated with autologous platelet rich plasma, porcine dermis heterograft and partial autologous skin graft, all of them with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) at 1.45 ATA "100% O2 like adjuvant therapy. Good evolution and acceptable aesthetic results were reported. Although more studies are required, we suggest that multi-therapeutic approach could be effective in treatment for electric burns in hands.

The most recurrent monogenic disorders that overlap with the phenotype of Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome (RTT) is an early-onset neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene; however, defects in other genes (CDKL5 and FOXG1) can lead to presentations that resemble classic RTT, although they are not completely identical. Here, we attempted to identify other monogenic disorders that share features of RTT. A total of 437 patients with a clinical diagnosis of RTT-like were studied; in 242 patients, a custom panel with 17 genes related to an RTT-like phenotype was run via a HaloPlex-Target-Enrichment-System. In the remaining 195 patients, a commercial TruSight-One-Sequencing-Panel was analysed. A total of 40 patients with clinical features of RTT had variants which affect gene function in six genes associated with other monogenic disorders. Twelve patients had variants in STXBP1, nine in TCF4, six in SCN2A, five in KCNQ2, four in MEF2C and four in SYNGAP1. Genetic studies using next generation sequencing (NGS) allowed us to study a larger number of genes associated with RTT-like simultaneously, providing a genetic diagnosis for a wider group of patients. These new findings provide the clinician with more information and clues that could help in the prevention of future symptoms or in pharmacologic therapy.

[Effects of dexmedetomidine on intracranial hemodynamics in severe head injured patients]

Dexmedetomidine, an alpha 2 adrenergic agonist, with distinctive characteristics when compared to traditional plans, namely: conscious sedation, sympatholysis and lack of respiratory depression, represents an attempt to improve the sedoanalgesia of critically ill patients. OBJECTIVE. To study dexmedetomidine's effect on intracranial hemodynamic and hemometabolic parameters in severe head injured patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS. Prospective study on the effect of Dexmedetomidine on twelve severe head injured patients (Glasgow Coma Scale score <or= 8) admitted to an intensive care unit, with intracranial pressure < 20 mmHg and O(2) saturation monitoring of blood from jugular bulb. The drug was perfused intravenously during 3 hours, in progressive doses (0.2, 0.4 and 0.7 ug/kg/h). All other sedo-analgesia medication had been previously withdrawn. RESULTS. No significant differences were found in intracranial pressure, mean arterial pressure and cerebral hemometabolic parameters after infusion of dexmedetomidine in relation to basal values. Cerebral perfusion pressure showed a trend to decrease during the drug infusion (marginal effect, p =.058). Cardiac frequency decreased significantly after the drug administration. CONCLUSIONS. At the doses utilized, dexmedetomidine was safe, and it was not associated with significant changes in intracranial hemodynamics, nor in cerebral hemometabolic parameters, in a group of severe head jnjured patients.