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Kansu, Tulay/0000-0002-1986-4680; Siva, Aksel/0000-0002-8340-6641; Altintas, Ayse/0000-0002-8524-5087; Mangan, Mehmet Serhat/0000-0001-7720-9003 WOS: 000369951300002 PubMed: 26468870 Background: Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an immune-mediated, chronic relapsing, inflammatory disease characterized by severe attacks of optic neuritis and myelitis. Objective: To determine the demographic, clinical, and laboratory features; antibody status; and treatment modalities of patients with NMO and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders in a Turkish cohort from 11 centers. Methods: A total of 182 patients were included in this study. Data on age at disease onset, sex, type of attacks, clinical presentation, analysis of cerebrospinal fluid, serum antiaquaporin-4 antibody status, annual progression index, and medical and family histories were collected. Results: Mean age was 38.43 +/- 12.40 years (range, 13 to 75 y), and mean age at disease onset was 31.29 +/- 12.40 years (median, 29 y; range, 10 to 74 y). In NMO group, the rate of NMO immunoglobulin (Ig)G positivity was 62.5%. The annual progression index was significantly higher in the longitudinally extending spinal cord lesion. The mean Expanded Disability Status Scale score was higher in the late than early-onset NMO group. Conclusion: Our results revealed a lower rate of NMO IgG positivity, more severe disability in patients with NMO/neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders presenting with either transverse myelitis or late-onset NMO, and no correlation between disability and NMO IgG status.

INTRODUCTION Listeria monocytogenes-related central nervous system infections may involve the cerebral parenchyma. Meningitis and meningoencephalitis are the most commonly seen forms and mainly affect immunocompromised patients; however, a less frequent form, rhombencephalitis, can occur in otherwise healthy people. Early treatment with appropriate antibiotic therapy is crucial for this otherwise fatal disorder. However, it is not always possible to rapidly establish the diagnosis because of varying presentations and discrepancies in diagnostic tests. CASE REPORT Herein we report 3 cases of listerial infections involving the central nervous system parenchyma, with versatile diagnostic challenges and related possible solutions and radiologic hints to overcome similar issues in the future. CONCLUSIONS We point out the importance of nonconventional magnetic resonance imaging techniques in the diagnosis, as we detected petechial hemorrhages in the brain parenchyma in all cases, which can be a diagnostic clue.

Alien hand syndrome is the strange feeling of one's hand behaving independently. This syndrome has rarely been reported in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Herein, we present a 34-year-old female MS patient who had recurrent symptoms of alien hand syndrome that were evaluated as MS attacks based on cranial magnetic resonance imaging that showed demyelinating lesions in the corpus callosum. Alien hand syndrome is classified according to the location of the lesion and the presenting symptoms. As such, our patient can best be classified as a callosal alien hand case.