The data provide supportive evidence from tertiary headache practice in the UK for the use of flunarizine in migraine. The data encourages development of future guidance regarding flunarizine use in headache centres in countries where its use is not routine.
Background
We report the first case of COVID-19 associated acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) without pulmonary disease in a patient with an extremely high interleukin-6 (IL-6) level and Ran Binding Protein 2 (RANBP2) mutation.
Case presentation
A 29-year-old woman recently immunized with inactivated viral vaccine—BBIBP32-CorV (Sinopharm) presented with alteration of consciousness. Her body temperature was 37° Celsius, blood pressure 42/31 mmHg, heart rate 130 bpm, respiratory rate 20 per minute, and oxygen saturation 98%. Respiratory examination was unremarkable. Neurological examination revealed stupor but preserved brainstem reflexes. Non-contrast computerized tomography of the brain showed symmetrical hypodense lesions involving bilateral thalami and cerebellar hemispheres characteristic of ANE. No pulmonary infiltration was found on chest radiograph. SARS-CoV-2 was detected by PCR; whole genome sequencing later confirmed the Delta variant. RANBP2 gene analysis revealed heterozygous Thr585Met mutation. Serum IL-6 was 7390 pg/mL. Urine examination showed pyelonephritis. Her clinical course was complicated by seizure, septic shock, acute kidney injury, and acute hepatic failure. She later developed coma and passed away in 6 days.
Conclusions
ANE is caused by cytokine storm leading to necrosis and hemorrhage of the brain. IL-6 was deemed as a prognostic factor and a potential treatment target of ANE in previous studies. RANBP2 missense mutation strongly predisposes this condition by affecting mitochondrial function, viral entry, cytokine signaling, immune response, and blood–brain barrier maintenance. Also, inactivated vaccine has been reported to precipitate massive production of cytokines by antibody dependent enhancement (ADE). The true incidence of COVID-19 associated ANE is not known as were the predictors of its development. We proposed these potential two factors (RANBP2 mutation and ADE) that could participate in the pathogenesis of ANE in COVID-19 apart from SARS-CoV2 infection by itself. Further study is needed to confirm this hypothesis, specifically in the post-vaccination period. Role of RANBP2 mutation and its application in COVID-19 and ANE should be further elaborated.
Background
After the initiation of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Thailand, thousands of patients have experienced unusual focal neurological symptoms. We report 8 patients with focal neurological symptoms after receiving inactivated virus vaccine, CoronaVac.
Case series
Patients were aged 24–48 years and 75% were female. Acute onset of focal neurological symptoms occurred within the first 24 h after vaccination in 75% and between 1-7d in 25%. All presented with lateralized sensory deficits, motor deficits, or both, of 2–14 day duration. Migraine headache occurred in half of the patients. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain during and after the attacks did not demonstrate any abnormalities suggesting ischemic stroke. All patients showed moderately large regions of hypoperfusion and concurrent smaller regions of hyperperfusion on SPECT imaging while symptomatic. None developed permanent deficits or structural brain injury.
Discussions
Here, we present a case series of transient focal neurological syndrome following Coronavac vaccination. The characteristic sensory symptoms, history of migraine, female predominant, and abnormal functional brain imaging without structural changes suggest migraine aura as pathophysiology. We propose that pain related to vaccine injection, component of vaccine, such as aluminum, or inflammation related to vaccination might trigger migraine aura in susceptible patients.
Background
We report the first case of a patient who suffered transient focal neurological deficit mimicking stroke following CoronaVac vaccination. However, instead of an ischemic stroke, motor aura was suspected.
Case presentations
A 24 year-old Thai female presented with left hemiparesis fifteen minutes after receiving CoronaVac. She also had numbness of her left arm and legs, flashing lights, and headaches. On physical examination, her BMI was 32.8. Her vital signs were normal. She had moderate left hemiparesis (MRC grade III), numbness on her left face, arms, and legs. Her weakness continued for 5 days. A brain CT scan was done showing no evidence of acute infarction. Acute treatment with aspirin was given. MRI in conjunction with MRA was performed in which no restricted diffusion was seen. A SPECT was performed to evaluate the function of the brain showing significant hypoperfusion of the right hemisphere. The patient gradually improved and was discharged.
Discussions
In this study, we present the first case of stroke mimic after CoronaVac vaccination. After negative imaging studies had been performed repeatedly, we reach a conclusion that stroke is unlikely to be the cause. Presumably, this phenomenon could possibly have abnormal functional imaging study. Therefore, we believed that it might be due to cortical spreading depression, like migraine aura, which we had conducted a literature review.
The cognitive screening test is a brief cognitive examination that could be easily performed in a clinical setting. However, one of the main drawbacks of this test was that only a paper-based version was available, which restricts the test to be manually administered and graded by medical personnel at the health centers. The main solution to these problems was to develop a potential remote assessment for screening individuals with cognitive impairment. Currently, multiple studies have been adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technology into these tests, evolving the conventional paper-based neurocognitive test into a digitized AI-assisted neurocognitive test. These studies provided credible evidence of the potential of AI-augmented cognitive screening tests to be better and provided the framework for future studies to further improve the implementation of AI technology in the cognitive screening test. The objective of this review article is to discuss different types of AI used in digitized cognitive screening tests and their advantages and disadvantages.
COVID-19 infection often results in an excessive inflammatory response with a spectrum of neurological manifestations. Here, we describe an 81-year-old female with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and subsequent alteration of consciousness after high-dose intravenous dexamethasone and remdesivir. A non-contrast head computed tomography (CT) demonstrated bilateral hypodensities involving bilateral cerebellar hemispheres, thalami, cerebral peduncles and medial parieto-occipital areas. There was no improvement and repeat CT showed progression with findings suggestive of acute necrotizing encephalopathy. Interleukin-6 levels were initially normal; however, subsequent levels were found to be markedly elevated. Acute necrotizing encephalopathy associated with COVID-19 may occur in the setting of severe pneumonia and may represent an immune-mediated process involving inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6.
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