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J L Mas

Publications and source records attributed to J L Mas.

121 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

[Non-specific angiitis and the central nervous system].

Central nervous system manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus are reported in 25 to 60 p. cent of cases and include mental disturbances, epilepsy, focal deficits, and headache. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) changes are inconstantly observed. Cerebral scintigraphy may be useful. CT Scan imaging shows infarcts, hemorrhages, or cortical atrophy. Cerebral angiography is usually normal. Pathological examination shows frequent arteriolar lesions in the CNS but their appearance is rarely that of an angiitis. The mechanism of the CNS lesion involves both angiitis and antineuronal antibodies. Diagnosis is difficult when presenting signs are those of CNS involvement, particularly as the ESR can be normal. Serum complement and anti-DNA antibody levels are frequently normal when there is an isolated CNS involvement. Overall prognosis is poor in cases with CNS lesions. The use of corticoids is discussed. Cerebral angiitis is an exceptional finding during the course of rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma. Central neurological manifestations of Sharp's and Gougerot-Sjögren's syndromes have recently been reported. CNS lesions are reported in 10 to 20 p. cent of patients with panarteritis nodosa and include mental disorders and disturbance of vigilance, epilepsy, focal deficits, meningeal signs and headache. The CSF is often normal. The CT scan provides images of infarcts, hemorrhages or cortical atrophy. Cerebral angiography may show segmental stenoses and distal occlusions. Pathological examination of the CNS shows mainly lesions in the intracerebral and leptomeningeal arterioles and small caliber arteries. Treatment is by corticoids and immunosuppressors. Angiitis of the CNS is rare and of late onset in Wegener's granulomatosis. Hypersensitivity angiitis rarely affects the CNS, those cases where it is involved being of poor prognosis and probably related to panarteritis nodosa. CNS manifestations in giant cell arteritis and Takayasu's arteritis result from neck artery lesions. The CNS is affected in 20 p. cent of cases in Behcet's disease with resulting isolated aseptic meningitis or a meningo-encephalomyelitis, and intracranial hypertension. The CSF is nearly always abnormal. Cerebral angiography should be directed towards the search for cerebral thrombophlebitis. Pathologically lesions predominate in the brain stem. Meningeal lesions are almost constantly present. Neurological involvement is of poor prognosis, and early corticotherapy must be instituted. The nosological autonomy of Buerger's thromboangiitis obliterans is questioned. Lymphomatoid granulomatosis is a particular type of angiitis in which malignant cell infiltration occurs. The CNS is affected in 20 p. cent of cases, and whatever the treatment the prognosis is poor. Granulomatous angiitis of the CNS has the distinctive feature of lesions affecting the CNS vessels either exclusively or predominantly. The antemortem diagnosis is based on biopsy of the leptomeninges, and treatment with corticoids and immunosuppressors may prove effective.

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMed1981

[Amnesia from bilateral ischemic lesions of the thalamus (author's transl)].

A 43-year-old woman developed during post-partum an axial amnesia of ischemic origin. Stereotactic correlations were obtained by matching CT scan images with the true reference plane of the examination, according to an original method. This led to the diagnosis of infarction in the territory of a paramedian thalamomesencephalic artery. The amnesia probably resulted from bilateral lesions of Vicq d'Azyr's bundle. Atypical features in this case were the absence of disorder of vigilance and oculomotor disorders. This striking fact in this patient was recovery of some recognition capability contrasting with the persistence of a major evocation disorder.

Amnesia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stroke in pregnancy and the puerperium.

Recent studies suggest that the risk of cerebral infarction is increased during the puerperium but not during pregnancy itself. Most of the known causes of ischaemic stroke in the young have been reported during pregnancy. In most of these conditions, it is uncertain whether pregnancy is coincidental or plays a role in the occurrence of stroke. Eclampsia is the main pregnancy-specific cause, which may be associated with focal neurological deficits of sudden onset, consistent with a clinical diagnosis of stroke. However, the precise pathogenesis of these stroke-like focal deficits remains poorly understood. The two other pregnancy-specific conditions (choriocarcinoma and amniotic fluid embolism) are rarely responsible for focal cerebral ischaemia. In a significant number of patients, the cause of the stroke remains undetermined, despite an extensive aetiological investigation. Whether a hypercoagulable state and vessel wall changes associated with pregnancy may play a role in the occurrence of these otherwise unexplained ischaemic strokes remains unknown. The occurrence of cerebral venous thrombosis is clearly linked to the puerperal state, suggesting a direct role of the latter. However, cerebral venous thrombosis during pregnancy or the puerperium has been related to various aetiologies, stressing the need for an aetiological study, particularly when the thrombosis occurs during pregnancy. Pregnancy may increase the risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage, The most common cause is rupture of an arterial aneurysm. Although this is a controversial issue, the increased tendency of an aneurysm to bleed with advancing gestational age suggests that haemodynamic, hormonal or other physiological changes of pregnancy may play a role in aneurysmal rupture. The classic notion that rupture of an arterial aneurysm occurs more frequently during labour has not been confirmed. Most authors agree that surgical management after subarachnoid haemorrhage in pregnancy should be the same as that in the non-pregnant state. Data specifically devoted to intraparenchymal haemorrhage in pregnancy are scarce. Pregnancy and in particular the puerperium seem to be associated with an increased risk of intracerebral haemorrhage. The most common causes are eclampsia and ruptured vascular malformations. Whether pregnancy increases the risk of rupture of an arteriovenous malformation is controversial.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pure sensory stroke caused by a small cortical infarct in the middle cerebral artery territory.

A patient with the sudden onset of a pure sensory deficit involving cortical modalities in his left hand and foot is described. CT scan suggested the lesion responsible for the deficit was a small cortical infarct in the middle cerebral artery territory, involving the middle part of the post-central gyrus and interrupting thalamo-cortical pathways in the corona radiata.

Cerebral Infarction↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Spontaneous dissecting aneurysms of the internal carotid and vertebral arteries--two case reports.

Two patients had acute spontaneous dissection of both internal carotid arteries and of one or both vertebral arteries. One had angiographic signs suggestive of fibro-muscular dysplasia and both were on oral contraceptives. They were treated with high dose heparin and made a good clinical recovery. A digital intravenous angiography performed two to three months later showed a complete recanalization of arteries involved. These patients are similar to those reported as "idiopathic regressing arteriopathy" and "reversible angiopathy" which probably correspond to the same entity.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Stroke, migraine and intracranial aneurysm: a case report.

A man had since childhood recurrent attacks typical of ophthalmic migraine. After an otherwise unremarkable attack, he was left with a permanent quadrantanopsia due to a right occipital infarct. The remarkable pattern of progression, which characterized the visual phenomenon of subsequent attacks, favours a primary neuronal phenomenon. The first angiography revealed an occlusion of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) but the second one, performed two years later, disclosed a PCA aneurysm. Such a finding emphasizes the need of thorough and repeated evaluations of patients with so-called "migrainous infarcts."

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Extracranial vertebral artery dissections: a review of 13 cases.

Clinical and radiologic findings in 13 patients (11 women, 2 men) with extracranial vertebral artery dissection are reported. Dissection was spontaneous in 8 patients, occurred after neck manipulation in 2 and after a potential minor injury to the neck in 3. Six had a history of common migraine, 4 were using oral contraceptives at the time of dissection, and 3 had fibromuscular dysplasia. Dissection was bilateral in 8 patients and associated with carotid dissection in 3. It usually presented with neck or occipital pain preceding basilar ischemic symptoms by a few minutes to 1 month. In 3 patients, transient ischemic attacks were the only manifestation of basilar ischemia, and in 1 patient there was no symptom of basilar ischemia despite bilateral vertebral dissection. In 19 of the 21 dissected vertebral arteries, the angiographic appearance was that of an irregular stenosis, which was associated in 6 arteries with pseudoaneurysmal formation. In 2 patients, 1 vertebral artery was occluded but the contralateral artery showed the typical irregular stenosis. The dissection involved only the third segment in 33%, only the second segment in 24%, and 2 or more segments in 38%. Eleven patients were treated with anticoagulants and 2 with aspirin; 11 recovered without sequelae and 2 had residual deficit. No recurrence was observed (mean follow-up 34 months). At control angiography (n = 12) or ultrasonic study (n = 1), 63% of dissected vertebral arteries had returned to normal, 26% showed marked improvement, and 11% were occluded. Our patient characteristics are compared with those of previously published cases. The validity of the distinction between spontaneous dissection and dissection associated with minor trauma is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Study of combined anticoagulant (fluindione)-aspirin therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation at high risk for thromboembolic complications. A randomized trial (FFAACS)].

BACKGROUND: A combination of low-dose aspirin (A) and anticoagulation (AC) may provide better protection against thromboembolic events compared with AC alone in high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS: We performed a multicentric placebo-controlled double blind-trial to test the preventive efficacy against thromboembolic events of the addition of aspirin (A) (100 mg) or placebo (P) to anticoagulant treatment in patients with high-risk atrial fibrillation. A total of 157 patients were included, with atrial fibrillation and previous thromboembolic event or older than 65 years with either a history of hypertension, a recent episode of heart failure or a left ventricular dysfunction. All patients received fluindione (F) and P or F and A, with an INR target between 2 and 2.6. The primary endpoint was a combined endpoint of stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic), myocardial infarction, systemic arterial emboli or vascular death. RESULTS: The study had to be stopped prematurely owing to a too low recruitment rate. During follow-up (0.84 years) 3 non-fatal thromboembolic events were recorded (1P, 2A) and 6 patients died (3P, 3A), none of them from a thromboembolic complication. However, 3 deaths were secondary to severe haemorrhagic complications (1P, 2A). Non-fatal haemorrhagic complications occurred more often in group A (n = 10, 13.1 pour cent) compared with group P (n = 1, 1.2 pour cent), p = 0.003. CONCLUSION: The FFAACS study was not able to show any therapeutic benefit from the addition of aspirin to anticoagulant in patients with high-risk AF. Such a combination increased the incidence rate of bleeding complications, which therefore greatly reduces its potential overall benefit.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cerebrovascular diseases in pregnancy and puerperium].

The incidence, prognosis and causes of strokes associated with pregnancy or puerperium are poorly known, and we do not know whether and to what extent they differ from those of the general female population of childbearing age. Based on early and mostly hospital-based studies, it has been claimed that pregnancy increases the likelihood of cerebral infarction to about 13 times the rate expected outside of pregnancy. However, because of methodological weaknesses, these estimates must be regarded with caution. In a recent study in Ile de France, the incidence of arterial ischemic strokes associated with pregnancy or early puerperium was 4.3 per 100,000 deliveries (95% confidence interval, 2.4 to 7.1), a rate not much different from that for all women of childbearing age. Ischemic strokes related to various etiologies have been reported in pregnancy and the puerperium. Their relative frequency is poorly known because there are no recent large series of pregnancy-related ischemic strokes benefiting from detailed investigation with modern imaging techniques. Most of the known causes of ischemic stroke in the young been reported during pregnancy. In most of these conditions, it is uncertain whether pregnancy is coincidental or plays a role in the occurrence of stroke. Among pregnancy-specific causes, eclampsia may be associated with focal neurological deficits of sudden onset, consistent with a clinical diagnosis of stroke. However, the precise pathogenesis of these stroke-like focal deficits remains poorly understood. Except for some women who have persisting neurological deficits and neuroradiological abnormalities suggesting brain infarction, the reversibility of the neurological clinical signs and neuroradiological lesions within a few days or weeks in most cases argues against the existence of true cerebral ischemic necrosis. The two other pregnancy-specific causes-choriocarcinoma and amniotic fluid embolism-are rarely responsible for focal cerebral ischemia. Other diseases such as peripartum cardiomyopathy and postpartum cerebral angiopathy were initially considered as pregnancy-specific causes but subsequently reported outside of pregnancy. In a significant number of patients, the cause of the stroke remains undetermined, despite an extensive etiological workup. Whether hypercoagulable state and vessel wall changes associated with pregnancy may play a role in the occurrence of these otherwise unexplained ischemic strokes remains unknown. Too frequently, the stroke is considered at the first attempt as a complication of pregnancy and another underlying etiology may be missed. Therefore, evaluation of arterial ischemic stroke in pregnancy should proceed as in the non-pregnant state. There are no follow-up studies that consider the risk of recurrent stroke in future pregnancies. No data are available on the risk associated with use of oral contraception in a woman who had ischemic stroke during pregnancy. The frequency of cerebral venous thrombosis associated with pregnancy and the puerperium is not precisely known. Indeed, epidemiologic studies have been difficult to perform because cerebral venous thrombosis may have a misleading presentation and a definite diagnosis requires angiography, MRI or autopsy. The incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis has been estimated at 10 to 20 per 100000 deliveries in occidental countries, whereas rates of 200 to 500 per 100,000 deliveries have been reported in India. The pregnant and puerperal state accounts for 5 to 20% of all cerebral venous thrombosis in occidental countries; this proportion may reach 60% in developing countries. Labor and delivery are characteristically normal in occidental countries. The occurrence of cerebral venous thrombosis is clearly linked to the puerperial state, suggesting a direct role of the puerperial state.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)

Cerebrovascular Disorders↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Isolated dissection of the posterior cerebral artery].

Two cases of isolated dissection of the posterior cerebral artery responsible for ischemic stroke are reported. Nine probable or certain additional cases were found in the literature. Most patients were female. The clinical presentation consisted of ischemic symptoms in 6 patients, subarachnoid hemorrhage in 4, and both symptoms in 1. Headache was present in almost all patients. The most prevalent angiographic picture was an eccentric stenosis followed by fusiform dilatation of the P1-P2 segments of the posterior cerebral artery. A double-lumen sign was observed in 3 cases. A favorable outcome was usual in cases with ischemic symptoms. Potential benefits from anticoagulants (in case of ischemic symptoms) or surgery (in case of subarachnoid hemorrhage) are unknown.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Should asymptomatic carotid artery stenoses be operated?].

Compared to asymptomatic stenoses, asymptomatic carotid artery stenoses are associated with a relatively low risk of ipsilateral cerebral infarction: approximately 2% per year for stenoses reducing the diameter of the arterial lumen by 60% or more. The benefit of surgery is therefore limited. In the ACAS study, the risk of ipsilateral cerebral infarction was reduced by 50% by surgery, which corresponds to an absolute reduction of the risk of only 1% per year. Carotid endarterectomy should therefore be reserved for patients presumed to be at greater risk of cerebral infarction (stenosis greater than 80%, haemodynamic repercussions), provided that the patient's age and life expectancy are compatible with long-term prevention and that this treatment can be conducted at a low risk. In every case, the patient must be precisely informed about the expected benefits and risks of this operation.

Aged↗