Neurology Commons^™

Solitary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Of Skull: Case Report With One-Year Follow-Up, Muhammad Junaid, Syed Sarmad Bukhari, Ali Afzal

Section of Neurosurgery

Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disorder characterised by increased production of Langerhans-type histiocytes. It is more common in the pediatric age group with a predilection for osseous involvement, though any organ may be involved. A 10-year male child was brought to the neurosurgical clinic with a slow growing painful tender mass on the head. Initial attempt to biopsy the lesion failed due to excessive bleeding. It was later imaged and removed with a frontal craniotomy. Histopathological evaluation along with immunohistochemistry revealed the true nature of the lesion. Follow-up revealed complete excision of the lesion and no recurrence at …

“Old People Problems”, Uncertainty And Legitimacy: Challenges With Diagnosing Parkinson's Disease In Kenya, Natasha Fothergill-Misbah, Richard Walker, Judith Kwasa, Juzar Hooker, Kate Hampshire

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Very little is known about the experience of people living with Parkinson's disease (PD) in low- and middle-income countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of specialists in the region is low and awareness is limited among the population and healthcare professionals. Drawing on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork in urban and rural Kenya with 55 people living with PD (PwP), 23 family members and 22 healthcare professionals from public and private clinics, we set out to understand the experience of diagnosis among PwP in Kenya. The diagnostic journeys of our study participants were typically long, convoluted and …

Seizure Control After Surgical Resection Of Insular Glioma, Fatima Gauhar, Saqib Kamran Bakhshi, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

Medical College Documents

Insular gliomas most commonly present with drug-resistant seizures, irrespective of the tumour grade. Even though surgery is the mainstay of treatment, complex anatomical location and close proximity to eloquent cortex makes surgical resection difficult. Herein the authors have reviewed the literature with regards to seizure control after surgical management of these tumours. The review does not address quality of life, or survival benefits of surgery. In summary, excision of these gliomas significantly improves seizure control, and extent of resection along-with trans-cortical approach are important predictors of seizure outcome.

Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy As A Paraneoplastic Manifestation Of Colorectal Carcinoma: What Do We Know?, Talal Almas, Muhammad Ali Niaz, Yasar Sattar, Tarek Khedro, Ali Kanawati, Katia Yazji, Reema Alsufyani, Yousef Al-Khatib, Absam Akbar, Emad Mansoor

Medical College Documents

No abstract provided.

Use Of Ultrasonic Aspirator For Cns Tumour Resection, Noman Ahmad, Saqib Kamran Bakhshi, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

Section of Neurosurgery

Ultrasonic aspirator (UA), or the Cavitron Ultrasonic Aspirator (CUSA) as it is commonly referred to, utilizes ultrasonic waves of variable range of frequencies to disintegrate and excise tumours. It is developed as a substitute of bipolar diathermy; a tool commonly employed for coagulation that uses focussed electric current and may damage tissues by virtue of contact, or by the heat that it produces. Over the last 30 years, CUSA has become increasingly popular in several soft tissue surgeries, especially brain and spine tumour resection, as it allows reduction in the use of bipolar diathermy. It is assumed that CUSA improves …

Correlation Of Serum Calcium With Severity Of Acute Ischaemic Stroke, Ainan Arshad, Saad Bin Zafar Mahmood, Ahmed Ayaz, Mehsa Hashim, Eisha Hanan

Section of Internal Medicine

Stroke results in the death of around 6.5 million people annually with a majority of these occurring in developing countries. Serum calcium has been hypothesised to play a significant role in causing ischaemic stroke. This retrospective observational study was conducted to determine the correlation, if any, between serum calcium and the severity of acute ischaemic stroke in our population. Two hundred and seventy-nine patients admitted with acute ischaemic stroke were enrolled in the study. Of the 279 patients 162 (58%) were male and mean age was 62.4 ± 3.8 years. Characteristics of stroke patients were compared with stroke severity. Mean …

Frequency Of Early Postoperative Adverse Events (Aes) In Adult Patients Undergoing Elective Neurosurgical Intervention At Tertiary Care Center In Pakistan, Mansoor Chandio, Faraz Shafiq, Ather Enam

Department of Anaesthesia

Objective: The postoperative period is critical in neurosurgical patients, where the incidence of postoperative AEs is significantly high. Most of events occurs during recovery phase and has got relation to anaesthetic management. The objective of study was to determine frequency of early AEs in elective neurosurgical patients.
Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at our tertiary care center. The duration of study was one year, from August 2017-July 2018. The data was collected using predesigned proforma. The assessment was done on arrival in recovery room (T1) and then at forty five minutes (T2), twenty-fourth hour (T3) and forty-eighth hour …

The Midas Score After Memantine In Patients With Migraine At A Tertiary Care Hospital., Ihsan Ul Haq Zarkoon, Wazir Akbar, Noor Ahmed Khosa

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Memantine has been suggested as a migraine prophylaxis therapy in some observational studies. OBJECTIVE: To determine the mean change in MIDAS score after Memantine in patients having migraine. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: Non-probability, consecutive sampling.

Post-Operative Seizure Control In Patients With Glioblastoma, Ummey Hani, Muhammad Ammar Haider, Saqib Kamran Bakhshi, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

Section of Neurosurgery

While the median survival in patients with glioblastoma has not improved significantly over the past decade, aggressive attempts have been made on palliation and improving quality of life in these patients. A confluence of two debilitating pathologies which massively distorts the normal day-to-day functioning of the patients who experience it, seizures in glioblastoma patients portends a poor prognosis. There exists a paucity of reported seizure outcomes after glioblastoma treatment in neurosurgical literature. Herein we present a review examining post-operative seizure control in patients with glioblastoma.

Pregabalin Induced Hypersensitivity Reaction And Joint Pains In Patient With Lumbosacral Radiculopathy, Ramla Nayaib Hashmi, Iqra Khan, Ummul Kiram, Soobia .S Siddiqui, Tamaniat .

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Pregabalin is an antiepileptic medication commonly used for other purposes. It is also approved for neuropathic pain. Reported adverse effects are not severe, short lasting and are usually well tolerated1. The most common side effects comprise of lightheadedness , sedation , double vision ,increase in bodyweight and imbalance whereas decrease in neutrophil count and hypersensitivity are the uncommon adverse effects. In the literature till date, few case reports are available on the drug reactions to pregabalin. We report a case of young female who developed hypersensitivity reaction with pregabalin including body rashes, hives peripheral edema, and joint pains. Using the …

Neurological Associations Of Covid-19 Vaccines, Rija Zehra Ghazanfar, Mohammad Wasay

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

It does not come as a surprise that the introduction of an unprecedented treatment for a recently notorious disease will cause concerns and raise some questions. As a race we have become cautious over the centuries about what treatment modalities we accept and reject. With the advent of social media and endless sources of information we find ourselves standing at an intersection of many pathways, thinking meticulously where to go from there? At one point the widely available stats and the complex way in which these vaccines work do not really interest the general population as much as how they …

Optimizing Stroke Care In Baluchistan, Anjum Farooq, Wazir Akbar, Ahmed Wali

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Stroke is the second leading cause of death after ischemic heart disease.(1) Pakistan, currently the fifth most populous country of the world, has limited data on prevalence of stroke and its risk factors. Only two small-scale population-based studies conducted in Karachi showed stroke prevalence of 4.8% and 19.1%. (1) One study conducted in KP province of Pakistan showed estimated stroke prevalence of 1.2%. (1) The burden of stroke risk factors in Pakistan is enormous. Diabetes and hypertension are the most common risk factors in Pakistan. (2) Other common risk factors in Pakistan are active smoking, obesity, and family history of …

Anti-Nmda Receptor Encephalitis, Zaid Waqar, Haris Majid Rajput, Muhammad Hassan, Iqra Athar, Neelma Naz Khattak, Mazhar Badshah

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Anti N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA)receptor encephalitis is one of the most common type of auto immune encephalitis. Its diagnosis is often delayed due to initial clinical presentation with psychiatric clinical features. Initial clinical features resemble those of acute psychosis or depression which later evolve into frank neurological dysfunction. This was first described in association with ovarian teratoma, but it was later also found to exist without neoplastic association and in men as well. It occurs more frequently in younger age group, mostly below 50 years of age. Diagnosis is established with the help of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis for oligo clonal …

Gaba-B Encephalitis In Pakistan: A Rare But Treatable Entity, Asfandyar Khan Niazi, Shafain Shaikh, Arsalan Ahmad, Ayesha Zafar, Tahir Aziz Ahmed

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Autoimmune and paraneoplastic encephalitides are a group of neurologic disorders that present with cognitive decline, neuropsychiatric symptoms, movement disorders, or seizures. These diseases can present before, with, or after the diagnosis of malignancy. We report two cases of GABA-B encephalitis from Pakistan. The first patient was a 67-year-old gentleman presented with cognitive decline and neuropsychiatric symptoms. His CSF analysis showed increased protein levels and GABA-B receptor antibodies. He was treated with pulse steroids, which improved his symptoms. The second patient was a 34-year-old lady with cognitive decline and psychomotor symptoms. Her serum autoimmune antibody panel showed antibodies against GABA-B receptors. …

Association Of Hypomagnesaemia & Hypocalcemia With Intracerebral Hemorrhage And Outcome, Muhammad Hassan, Naveed Ullah Khan, Mansoor Iqbal, Haris Majid Rajput, Ehsan-Ur- Rehman, Waleed Shahzad, Mazhar Badshah

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Determine if hypomagnesemia & hypocalcemia on admission was associated with ICH and outcome.

Magnesium is a vascular smooth muscle relaxant and appears to provide protection against cellular injury in experimental stroke models. The implication of low serum magnesium in primary ICH is not well defined.

All patients with a primary ICH presented to PIMS, Islamabad prospectively analyzed in a pilot study. Demographics, initial lab values, ICH location, Mg+2 level, NIHSS & MRS at presentation were recorded. All patients with INR <= 1.5 were included in this study. We took normal serum magnesium in our study was 1.8 - 2.5 mEq/dL. Statistical significance was determined using linear regression adjusting for admission systolic blood pressure (SBP).

We identified 66 patients who met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 52.76 years with minimum and maximum age …

Criminal Thinking Styles And Criminal Social Identity Among Juvenile Delinquents: Moderating Role Of Parenting Styles, Fatima Sana, Muhammad Rafiq, Muhammad Nasar Iqbal

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Parenting is considered imperative in the development of juvenile's cognitions, and beliefs. The parent-child relationship might significantly influence juvenile’s thought patterns and social communications. Different parenting styles perhaps indicate criminal involvement of juveniles, resultantly turns them into delinquent. The present study was done to discover whether parental authority styles moderate the path that links criminal thinking styles to criminal social identity amongst juvenile delinquents. Participants of the study were 211 juvenile delinquents who responded on Juvenile Criminal Thinking Styles’ Inventory (Sana & Rafiq, 2019), Measure of Criminal Social Identity (Boduszek, et al., 2012), Parental Authority Questionnaire (Babree, 1997) and approached …

Valproate Used In Women Of Childbearing Age With Epilepsy, Salman Mansoor, Kevin Murphy, Siobhan Kelly, Shoab Saadat

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Valproate is one of the oldest known anti-epileptic drugs (AED) in practice which was discovered in 1881 and later in 1962 was approved for treating epilepsy. It is indicated in most of the seizure types including generalized onset (motor, non-motor and myoclonic), focal onset, unknown onset and unclassified. Valproate has other indications in migraine prophylaxis, and bipolar disorder.

Early Neurological Deterioration After Acute Stroke; Mechanism And Predictors, Bushra Ammad Taimuri, Sajid Hameed, Mohammad Wasay

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Neurological deterioration after acute ischemic stroke (AIS)is a common occurrence, leading to increased mortality, morbidity, and poor quality of life among stroke survivors. Recognition of the individuals at a greater risk for neurological deterioration may contribute to making early decisions and monitoring the therapy. Neurological deterioration arises in up to 40% of subjects after AIS during hospitalization and is followed by neurological and functional debility. Numerous predictors have been devised that predict this progression. This includes preliminary assessment of the severity of stroke, brainstem infarction, hyperglycemia, atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus and substantial fluctuations in blood pressure. Sequential observations, in depth …

Migraine And Fasting, Lubna Ashraf Jafri, Mohammad Wasay

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Migraine is considered as the second leading cause of disability worldwide, most commonly seen in young women. Skipping meals, dehydration and fasting are among many triggering factors which have been described in literature as a cause of increased frequency and severity of migraine attacks. The underlying pathophysiology, prevention and management of fasting induced migraine has been documented, however, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials for the same. This review article discusses these important aspects in the light of published literature and gives directions on future areas of research.

Juvenile Dermatomyositis And Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome: A Rare Association., Shazma Shamim

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Juvenile dermatomyositis or JDM is a rare but debilitating pediatric disease that affects the proximal muscles and skin, as implied by its name. Although rare, it is the most common childhood idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (1). The estimated incidence is 3.2 cases per million children (2). The diagnosis is based on clinical signs and symptoms supported by investigations including, but not limited to, muscle biopsy, muscle enzymes and EMG studies. Bohan and Peter’s criterion is most widely used for diagnosis. It includes the presence of Gottron’s rash, raised muscle enzymes, proximal muscle weakness and suggestive findings on muscle biopsy (3). Treatment …

The Contribution Of Dysphagia To Acute Stroke Morbidity And Mortality In Nigeria: A Prospective Study, O O. Olajide, Philip Adebayo, F T. Taiwo, M O. Owolabi, A Ogunniyi

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: The assessment of time-trend morbidity and mortality in acute stroke is critical to clinical policy decisions and resource allocation.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of dysphagia in acute stroke and the impact of dysphagia on short term stroke outcome (30 days post-stroke).

Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal study. Bedside screening for dysphagia modified Rankin score (MRS) and Barthel Index (BI) were performed on acute stroke patients on day 1, day 7, day 14 and day 30 after stroke to determine the frequency of dysphagia. Patients with dysphagia were then compared with age- and gender-matched controls (stroke patients without …

Postdischarge 24/7 Hotline Service For Neurology And Neurosurgery Patients And 1-Year Impact On Readmission Rates, Unplanned Emergency Department Visits, And Patient Satisfaction, Shafqat Bibi, Rida Mitha, Kiran Bano, Farida Datoo, Nadia Karim, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Objective: Telephone triage is a system in which trained nurses use standardized protocols to evaluate symptoms over the phone and determine the appropriate course of action.
Materials and methods: We implemented a protocol for systematic follow up phone calls and telephonic triage to families of neurology and neurosurgery patients after discharge, primarily to improve care transition and to assess its impact on the ratio of visits in the emergency department, readmissions, and overall satisfaction of patients and families. The intervention comprised the implementation of nurse led telephone triage and postdischarge follow up phone calls. After implementing hotline services in mind …

Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Associated With Covid-19 Infection: An Observational, Multicenter Study, Sajid Hameed, Mohammad Wasay, Bashir A. Soomro, Ossama Mansour, Foad Abd-Allah, Tianming Tu, Raja Farhat, Naila Shahbaz, Husnain Hashim, Wasim Alamgir

Section of Neurology

Background and purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (CO-VID-19) has an increased propensity for systemic hypercoagulability and thromboembolism. An association with cerebrovascular diseases, especially cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), has been reported among these patients. The objective of the present study was to identify risk factors for CVT as well as its presentation and outcome in COVID-19 patients.
Methods: This is a multicenter and multinational observational study. Ten centers in 4 countries (Pakistan, Egypt, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates) participated in this study. The study included patients (aged >18 years) with symptomatic CVT and recent COVID-19 infection.
Results: Twenty patients (70% men) …

Role Of Intra-Operative Ultrasound In Brain Tumour Surgeries, Mohammad Hamza Bajwa, Saqib Kamran Bakhshi, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

Section of Neurosurgery

The use of intra-operative ultrasound remains a largely underutilized option in brain tumour surgeries. The widespread availability of neuronavigation may be the reason why such a useful modality has become less popular even though recent advances in ultrasound technology have greatly improved its utility. The available literature also clearly shows that it offers additional advantages especially when used with neuronavigation. Herein the authors have briefly touched upon the available literature on the role of intraoperative ultrasound in brain tumour surgeries.

Management Of Paediatric Intracranial Ependymoma, Syeda Kubra Kishwar Jafri, Saqib Kamran Bakhshi, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

Section of Neurosurgery

Intracranial ependymoma are relatively common paediatric brain tumours, but their eloquent location and high recurrence rate pose a significant challenge. Gross total resection or maximum safe resection followed by adjuvant radiotherapy are currently the standard recommended treatment, although there is still nearly 50% recurrence risk at 5 years. Chemotherapy has shown some promising results after recent advances in molecular understanding of ependymomas, but needs further evaluation before it could be added to the treatment regime.

Tranexamic Acid To Reduce Head Injury Death In People With Traumatic Brain Injury: The Crash-3 International Rct, Ian Roberts, Haleema Shakur-Still, Amy Aeron-Thoma, Danielle Beaumont, Antonio Belli, Amy Brenner, Madeleine Cargill, Rizwana Chaudhri, Nicolas Douglas, Rashid Jooma

Section of Neurosurgery

Background: Tranexamic acid safely reduces mortality in traumatic extracranial bleeding. Intracranial bleeding is common after traumatic brain injury and can cause brain herniation and death. We assessed the effects of tranexamic acid in traumatic brain injury patients.
Objective: To assess the effects of tranexamic acid on death, disability and vascular occlusive events in traumatic brain injury patients. We also assessed cost-effectiveness.
Design: Randomised trial and economic evaluation. Patients were assigned by selecting a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Patients, caregivers and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. …

Autism: A Deep Insight, Hemaila Tariq, Muhammad Yusuf Hafiz

Medical College Documents

No abstract provided.

Association Of Supine Hypertension In Patients With Parkinson’S Disease, Anam Anis, Iqra Athar, Mazhar Badshah

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease affecting older age populations. There is variable evidence of its relationship with hypertension. To date most of the studies have targeted orthostatic hypotension, however, rare data regarding supine hypertension has been witnessed so far. This study aimed at determining the association of supine hypertension with Parkinson’s disease.

Gutka Associated Optic Neuropathy, Dureshahwar Kanwar, Mohammad Wasay

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Optic neuropathy may be multi factorial in origin. It’s association with gutka use in South East Asia is most likely under diagnosed and often overlooked, considering it is a diagnosis of exclusion. The Optic nerve toxicity is well known occurring due to medications, metals, organic solvents, methanol, and carbon dioxide.1 Over recent years the effect of smokeless tobacco has been highlighted as one of the common causes of toxic optic neuropathy (TON), as visual impairment is already a colossal global health issue. Nonetheless,as high as 80 percent of the total burden of cases of blindness globally are due to causes …

Finger Drop Sign In Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Iqra Athar, Neelma Naz Khattak, Haris Majid Rajput, Mazhar Badshah, Zukhruf Zayian, Tashfain Shifa

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is a post-infectious, immune-mediated disease that causes a rapidly progressing poly-radiculoneuropathy resulting in weakness and areflexia. It has several variant forms like AIDP, AMAN and AMSAN,