Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is an obstetric emergency frequently occurring in a pregnant or puerperal woman, manifested with an acute headache, consciousness impairment, seizures, and visual deficits and is associated with white matter changes predominantly affecting the posterior parietal and occipital lobes of the brain. Apart from the above-described typical location of the changes, the most common atypical location involves the brain stem and basal ganglia. Since magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more sensitive and specific imaging technique compared to computerized tomography, establishing the diagnosis and follow-up in patients with PRES is based mainly on MRI findings. It is particularly important not to exclude PRES as a possible diagnosis when we have the appropriate clinical presentation accompanied by the atypical radiological findings, since this clinical-radiological syndrome can often be manifested with an atypical MRI image.
We report data on the Toxocara seroprevalence evidenced in 2015 from samples of 40 children and 298 adults of the population living in different areas of Serbia, and on possible association of certain variables with infection. Detection of specific antibodies was performed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; all ambiguous results and part of the positive and negative sera were further analyzed by confirmatory Western blot test. An overall 23.5% seroprevalence was noticed, which was confirmed in 13.0% of the examined population with no significant difference regarding the age (children = 10.0%; adults = 13.4%) or by country area (East = 18.2%; North = 15.5%, Southeastern = 9.5%; p = 0.005). In contrast, the group of adult women proved more reactive than men (p = 0.001), and subjects both who spend spare time in square/parks (p = 0.041) and with positive onychophagy (p = 0.001) habit turned out more exposed to the infection. Possible reasons of these differences were analyzed, and the medical, veterinary, and economic impact of this soil-transmitted zoonosis were discussed.
1 January 2019 in Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Background: Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are drugs that are primarily used for the treatment of malaria and are also recommended for treating connective tissue disorders, autoimmune diseases, and some dermatological and inflammatory diseases. Treatment with these drugs has potential risk for the development of retinopathy, clinically characterized by bilateral pigment changes in the macula, as one serious ocular complication. The aim of this research was to evaluate the parafoveal and perifoveal macular retinal thickness, as central foveal thickness in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on chloroquine therapy using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 56 RA patients (56 eyes) were included and examined. All patients were treated with chloroquine (tablets resochin or delagil) at a dose of 250 mg/day without treatment with steroids and other immunosuppressive drugs. Patients were divided into two groups, namely, Group I patients - no visible changes in the macula (26 patients) and Group II patients- with visible changes in the macula (30 patients). The central fovea thickness and parafoveal and perifoveal retinal thickness in all quadrants were measured by OCT and compared in both groups. Results: There are a significantly higher number of eyes without thinning of the macula in Group I patients than in Group II (P < 0.001) patients. There are a higher number of patients with recorded parafoveal thinning in Group II patients, especially in the inferior, nasal, and temporal sectors, respectively (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Maculopathy is the main side effect of chloroquine therapy in RA patients that can be detected by OCT in the early stages of the macular involvement.