0000000000408535

AUTHOR

Michael Albani

Giant axonal neuropathy and leukodystrophy

Abstract An 11-year-old Persian boy, born to consanguineous parents, manifested a progressive gait abnormality beginning at 5 years of age. A severe cerebellar disorder developed with associated dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system, but no sign of mental impairment. The sensory and motor nerve conduction velocities were greatly reduced, especially in the lower extremities. Cerebrospinal fluid protein was normal. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed leukoencephalopathy, especially in the cerebellum, but also in periventricular areas. The diagnosis of giant axonal neuropathy was established by biopsy of the sural nerve. The few previous histologic examinations h…

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Boy with pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a caused byGNASgene mutation (deltaN377), Crouzon-like craniosynostosis, and severe trauma-induced bleeding

We report on a 6-month-old boy with craniosynostosis, pseudohypoparathyroidism type 1a (PHP1A), and a GNAS gene mutation. He had synostoses of the coronal, frontal, and sagittal sutures, brachyturricephaly, and hydrocephaly. He also had congenital hypothyroidism, round face, full cheeks, shortness of limbs, mild developmental delay, and muscular hypotonia. Because of progressive hydrocephaly, the synostosis was corrected surgically but circulatory decompensation led to disseminated intravascular coagulation and cerebral infarctions. Our patient died 8 days later. Postmortem molecular studies of GNAS, the gene for guanine nucleotide-binding protein, alpha-stimulating activity polypeptide (ge…

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Oral topotecan in children with recurrent or progressive high-grade glioma: a Phase I/II study by the German Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology.

BACKGROUND Continuous oral treatment with topotecan may be more effective than the typical 1-day and 5-day treatment schedules. In previous studies of continuous treatment with topotecan, increased intestinal side effects were reported in adult patients; however, the experience in pediatric patients and patients with high-grade glioma is quite limited. METHODS Thirty-two pediatric patients with recurrent high-grade glioma (16 females and 16 males; median age, 9.5 years) were enrolled in the current Phase I/II study. Tumor locations included the cerebral cortex (n = 5), pons (n = 18), and other sites (n = 9). An injectable formulation of topotecan was administered orally, in ice-cold orange …

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