A 4 year old girl with normal birth history and development with the exception of an episode of maternal hemiplegia during pregnancy. There is no significant family history of any neurological issues. Her medical history is unremarkable except for celiac disease which is treated with a gluten-free diet.
An half a year ago she developed scarlet fever and began to have episodes of right hand tremor lasting 6 seconds with no alteration of consciousness. One month later she had more events and was taken to the local ED where an EEG was performed.
15 years old patient presented with clinical syndrome of fever, fatigue, and diarrhea. Laboratory findings showed severe anemia with findings of microangiopathic hemolysis (schistocytes, hyperbilirubinemia, elevated LDH) and severe thrombocytopenia. He was later documented to have fluctuating ADAMTS13 activity that appeared to correlate with the hematologic abnormalities. He also had urinary findings of hematuria, moderate proteinuria, and creatinine as high as 1.4 mg/dL.
Patient with clinical and laboratory picture compatible with acute infectious mononucleosis with Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). Although he still feels weak, his condition is slowly improving. There is a gradual disappearance of the fever episodes and rash, in parallel with gradual normalization of the liver enzymes results, and disappearance of atypical lymphocytes. The reactivation of Herpes labialis can be explained by the stress involved in the EBV infection or the Cortisone treatment.
41 year-old male was recently diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis (MS) after episodes of leg and shoulder weakness and parasthesis. Lately he experiences dizziness. His MRI showed several demyelinating lesions, other ancillary tests showed demyelinating damage to the auditory and visual pathway. Currently he has no functional or sensorial deficiencies. He was offered several immunomodulatory treatment options: Rebif, Betaferon and Copaxone, and asks about their pros, cons and complications, and about the differential diagnosis.
40 years old patient with clinical history that is consistent with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. After an attempt to replace thyroid function with thyroid hormone in pills (Eutirox), the patient had reported multiple symptoms which might be suggestive for adverse side effects of Eutirox (double vision, tachycardia, disturbance of sleep, outbursts of anger). The patient consulted her family doctor and decided to reduce the dose of Eutirox.
