Search

A 48-year-old man presented with a headache and disorientation after multiple wasp stings. Following admission, he developed seizures and was intubated. We provisionally diagnosed wasp sting-related allergic encephalitis and treated this with intravenous methylprednisolone and intravenous immunoglobulin. He recovered uneventfully over several days.

WOS: 000411827200025, PubMed ID: 28961828, Background: Reed-Sternberg cells of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) are characterized by genetic alterations at the 9p24.1 locus, leading to over-expression of programmed death-ligand 1 and 2. In a phase 1b study, nivolumab, a PD-1-blocking antibody, produced a high response in patients with relapsed or refractory cHL, with an acceptable safety profile. Patients and methods: We present a retrospective analysis of 82 patients (median age: 30 years; range: 18-75) with relapsed/refractory HL treated with nivolumab in a named patient program from 24 centers throughout Turkey. The median follow-up was 7 months, and the patients had a median of 5 (2-11) previous lines of therapy. Fifty-seven (70%) and 63 (77%) had been treated by stem-cell transplantation and brentuximab vedotin, respectively. Results: Among 75 patients evaluated after 12 weeks of nivolumab treatment, the objective response rate was 64%, with 16 complete responses (CR; 22%); after 16 weeks, it was 60%, with 16 (26%) patients achieving CR. Twenty patients underwent subsequent transplantation. Among 11 patients receiving allogeneic stem-cell transplantation, 5 had CR at the time of transplantation and are currently alive with ongoing response. At the time of analysis, 41 patients remained on nivolumab treatment. Among the patients who discontinued nivolumab, the main reason was disease progression (n = 19). The safety profile was acceptable, with only four patients requiring cessation of nivolumab due to serious adverse events (autoimmune encephalitis, pulmonary adverse event, and two cases of graft-versus-host disease aggravation). The 6-month overall and progression-free survival rates were 91.2% (95% confidence interval: 0.83-0.96) and 77.3% (0.66-0.85), respectively. Ten patients died during the follow-up; one of these was judged to be treatment-related. Conclusions: Nivolumab represents a novel option for patients with cHL refractory to brentuximab vedotin, and may serve as a bridge to transplantation; however, it may be associated with increased toxicity.

SummaryThe dialysate of benzene-ether extracted brain tissue is capable of causing signs and lesions of allergic encephalitis in guinea pigs. The material recovered in the dialysate is free of protein and presumably contains only substances of low molecular weight.

SummaryA method has been presented for the removal from rabies vaccine of the factor which causes allergic encephalomyelitis. This factor is not removed by extraction with benzene and ether, but preliminary treatment of the vaccine with these solvents facilitates separation by subsequent treatment. The presence of calcium acetate prevents the loss of antigen when the vaccine is washed. It does not prevent removal of the encephalitic factor which appears to be water soluble. About one-half of the total nitrogen of the vaccine is removed by this washing process. The technic may be briefly summarized as follows:1. A suspension of infected brain in water is dried from the frozen state.2. The dried brain is extracted with benzene followed by ether (Live virus may be killed in this stage by heating in benzene).3. After removal of the ether the dried brain is suspended in distilled water.4. Sufficient solution of calcium acetate is added to make final concentration of M/10 calcium acetate, and the suspension is ...

A case of schizophreniform episode following measles infection in a 27-year-old woman is presented. The possibility that the clinical picture is a first description in the literature of an association between a schizophreniform episode and possible measles-induced allergic encephalitis is discussed. Other possible connections between measles infection and schizophreniform episode are also mentioned.