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Abdominal wall haematomas are uncommon and often misdiagnosed entities. Most of the time the haematoma is produced by rupture of the epigastric vessels, deep circumflex iliac artery or tear in the rectus or lateral oblique muscle. Predisposing factors such as arteriosclerosis of vessels, old age, straining while urinating and coughing and use of anticoagulant agents make bleeding more likely. Here, two uncommon cases who experienced cardioembolic stroke are described. The patients were given enoxaparin sodium urgently, administered to the stomach area subcutaneously. They presented with abdominal masses, periumbilical and inguinal ecchymosis. Their haemoglobin levels dropped. Abdominal CT scan and ultrasonography revealed rectus sheath and internal abdominal oblique muscle haematomas. The patients were treated conservatively. This report concerns this rare condition, often misdiagnosed in unconscious patients, that has not been reported as being due to cardiogenic brain embolism in the literature to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the vestibular evoked myogenic potentials responses in patients with Behçet's disease. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three patients (66 ears) with the diagnosis of Behçet's disease and 33 (66 ears) age and sex matched healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Logon type stimulus; 500 Hz frequency at an intensity of 120 dB HL with a 4/s stimulation rate was delivered to elicite the VEMP responses. The stemocleidomastoid muscle was chosen as the target to record the VEMPs. During the recording period subjects were in supine position with head elevation and simultaneous binaural acoustic stimulations were used. Results: The response rate of p1n1 wave was 69.7 % for Behçet group and 89.4 % for the control group (X2, p= 0.009). For Behçet group, the mean latencies of p1 and n1 were 13.7 ± 1.2 ms and 19.7 ± 1.4 ms, the mean amplitude of p1n1 wave was 12.2 ± 5.9 µV. For control group, these values were 14.2 ± 1.3 ms; 20.8 ± 2.1 ms and 14.1 ± 6.1 µV, respectively. Although there were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to p1 latency and p1n1 amplitude, n1 latencies were significantly shorter in Behçet group. Conclusion: This preliminary report notify that in Behcet's disease, the VEMP response rate is lower and n1 latency was shorter than the healthy subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Calcium (Ca) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of ischemic cell damage. Intracellular Ca accumulation leads neuronal damage by triggering the cycle of cytotoxic events, however the relationship of serum Ca levels and the pathways involved in ischemic injury is unclear. To investigate the effect of serum Ca on clinical features of ischemic stroke; the association of serum Ca levels measured in the first 24 hours with the severity of clinical symptoms on admission and short-term prognosis is evaluated., Materials and Methods: 158 consecutive patients who admitted to the hospital with ischemic stroke in the first 24 hours after the onset of symptoms were enrolled to the study. Serum total Ca levels, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores on admission and mRS scores at discharge were recorded. Patients were classified according to serum total Ca levels into three groups and compared in terms of stroke risk factors, etiology, severity of clinical symptoms on admission and short term prognosis., Results: A total of 158 patients with acute ischemic stroke including 84 women and 74 men were enrolled in the study prospectively. NIHSS scores were higher in the groupl which consist of lower Ca levels compared with others (p < 0.05, p < 0.001 respectively), and they were found to be higher in group 2 than group 3 (p = 0.029). mRS scores at discharge showed no differences between groups. Except for coronary artery disease was more common in group 2, no statistically significant differences were determined in terms of stroke risk factors and etiology of stroke., Conclusions: The results of our study reveal that lower Ca levels may be associated with more severe clinical symptoms on admission in acute stroke patients.

CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disease characterized with recurrent stroke, migrainous headache, cognitive deficits, and psychiatric symptoms associated with mutations in the NOTCH 3 gene on chromosome 19. Here, we report a case of CADASIL who presented with migrainous headache, behavioral disorder, and familial history of stroke and the diagnosis was established by the findings of head magnetic resonance images revealing characteristic white matter lesions and a mutation in the NOTCH 3 gene.