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In addition to the famous sign described by Joseph Babinski, which is also known as Babinski's reflex, there are references in the literature to various other signs described by this famous disciple of J-M Charcot. This article reviews all the neurological signs described by Babinski.

Jean-Martin Charcot is considered the father of modern neurology; alongside his work as a physician, professor, and researcher in this area, he was also artistically gifted with a taste for caricature. This historical note summarizes 8 caricatures by Charcot that exhibit a mixture of humor, satire, irony, and sarcasm.

Jean-Baptiste Charcot, a neurologist from the famous Salpêtrière school and a renowned maritime explorer, visited Brazil twice. The first visit was in 1903, when the first French Antarctic expedition, traveling aboard the ship Français, made a very short stopover in Recife, in the state of Pernambuco. The second took place in 1908, during the famous voyage of the Pourquoi Pas? to the Antarctic, when Charcot and his crew stayed in the city of Rio de Janeiro for eight days.Keywords: neurology, maritime, explorer, Antarctic, Brazil. RESUMO Jean-Baptiste Charcot, neurologista formado na famosa escola do hospital Salpêtrière, e famoso explorador marítimo, visitou o Brasil por duas vezes. A primeira em 1903, numa curta passagem, em Recife/Pernambuco, a bordo do navio Français, durante a primeira expedição francesa à antártica, e a segunda, em 1908, durante a famosa viagem do Pourquoi Pas? à Antártica, quando ele e sua tripulação permaneceram na cidade do Rio de Janeiro por oito dias.Palavras-chave: neurologia, explorador, marítimo, Antártica, Brasil.

The use of eponyms in neurology remains controversial, and important questions have been raised about their appropriateness. Different approaches have been taken, with some eponyms being excluded, others replaced, and new ones being created. An example is Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome, which has been replaced by neurodegeneration with brain iron accuulatium (NBIA). Amiothoplic lateral sclerosys (ALS), for which the eponym is Charcot’s disease, has been replaced in the USA by Lou Gehrig’s disease. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an eponym that is still the subject of controversy, and various different names are associated with it. Finally,restless legs syndrome (RLS), which was for years known as Ekbom’s syndrome, has been rechristened as RLS/Willis-Ekbom syndrome.

A 38-year-old female was assessed in a county hospital with a four-month history of severe throbbing morning headaches. Due to the syndromic diagnosis of intracranial hypertension, a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed showing evidence of supratentorial noncommunicating hydrocephalus because of an intraventricular cyst. The cyst was located at the level of the frontal horn of the right lateral ventricle, extending through the foramen of Monro to the third ventricle. Additionally, there were signs of edema in the midbrain periaqueductal region. The patient was treated with a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt, and the symptoms of intracranial hypertension improved. A diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NCC) was established after analysis of CSF, and positive antibodies reactions were detected. The patient was started on high-dose oral albendazole (3.2 g qd). After four days, additional signs were detected, including mutism, hypomimia, and sialorrhea, associated with severe parkinsonism (marked rigidity, bradykinesia, and resting upper limb tremor). A new brain MRI showed milder hydrocephalus. However, the intraventricular cyst and cerebral aqueduct edema and ependymitis remained unchanged (Figs 1 and 2).At such point, she was referred to our Service of Neurology at the Hospital de Clínicas, Federal University of Paraná. On admission, neurological examination showed a severe Parkinsonian syndrome that also included marked postural instability, anarthria, and vertical ophthalmoparesis for upward gaze.Our diagnosis was of Parkinsonism secondary to NCC. We believe that treatment with high-dose albendazole made the presentation worse by adding a reactive inflammatory response and by aggravating ependymitis and tissue damage.Methylprednisolone pulse therapy was then started (1 g intravenous, daily, for five days). Symptomatic treatment also included levodopa/carbidopa (250/50 mg daily), with progressive improvement in Parkinsonism symptom. Finally, she then underwent endoscopic neurosurgery including monroplasty, removal of the cyst, pellucidoctomy, and third ventriculostomy. Neuropathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of NCC.Eight months later, the patient was progressively withdrawn from dopaminergic treatment and remained asymptomatic, able to return to her routine activities.

The authors describe the extraordinary contribution to science made by José Dantas de Souza Leite, who graduated from the Bahia School of Medicine and trained in Prof. Charcot’s Neurology Service under the supervision of Charcot’s most able pupil, Dr. Pierre Marie. Souza Leite presented his doctoral thesis on acromegaly, in Paris in 1890, and in the following year both him and Pierre Marie published a book on the subject, “Essays on Acromegaly”. This exceptional work established Souza Leite internationally as an important researcher, and the first Brazilian physician to contribute to the development of neuroendocrinology in an innovative way.

A 13-year-old boy presented seizures on day +37 after allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for Fanconi anemia. After HSCT this patient had received total parental nutrition (TPN) for 21 days. Neurological examination was normal. A MRI of the brain ( Figure A-B) showed symmetric areas of hyperintensity in the basal ganglia. Serum manganese (Mn) was 7.7 μg/L (reference value <3.3 μg/L).Basal ganglia Mn deposition, associated to elevated blood Mn levels, has been described in children receiving long-term TPN 1-3 . HIPERINTENSIDADE NOS GÂNGLIOS DA BASE EM RESSONÂNCIA MAGNÉTICA DO CRÂNIO EM PACIENTE PÓS-TRANSPLANTE DE CÉLULAS TRONCO HEMATOPOIÉTICA.Internal Medicine Department, Hospital de Clínicas, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba PR, Brazil: 1 Neurology; 2 Bone Marrow Transplantation Services.