 |
 |

Cerebral Microembolism in Patients With Sneddon's Syndrome
Matthias Sitzer, MD;
Dietmar Söhngen, MD;
Mario Siebler, MD;
Christof Specker, MD;
Jörg Rademacher, MD;
Igor Janda, MD;
Albrecht Aulich, MD;
Helmuth Steinmetz, MD
Arch Neurol. 1995;52(3):271-275.
Abstract
 |  |
Background The pathogenesis of Sneddon's syndrome is unclear. This study addresses the question whether cerebral thromboembolism may be involved in the pathogenesis of the neurologic complications of the disorder. The study consisted of 13 patients with Sneddon's syndrome defined by both generalized livedo reticularis and a history of one or more cerebrovascular ischemic events; none had clinical or Doppler ultrasonographic evidence of atherosclerosis.
Methods Transcranial Doppler microembolic monitoring of the middle cerebral artery; blood screening for antiphospholipid antibodies (lupus anticoagulant, anticardiolipin antibodies).
Results Five patients (38%) showed clinically silent microembolism at transcranial Doppler monitoring, with individual microembolic event rates of the middle cerebral artery between 2 per hour and 33 per hour. In this group, the time since the last ischemic symptom was significantly shorter than in the eight patients without microemboli. Antiphospholipid antibodies were detected in three patients (23%), all of whom belonged to the microemboli-positive group.
Conclusions These data suggest that the detectability of both clinically silent cerebral microembolism and antiphospholipid antibodies may provide paraclinical evidence of active disease in patients with Sneddon's syndrome. The results support the notion that an immune-mediated prothrombotic state facilitating the formation of arterial thrombi with subsequent cerebral embolization, and/or triggering in situ thrombosis of cerebral vessels, plays a pathogenetic role in the neurologic manifestations of this disorder.
Author Affiliations
From the Departments of Neurology (Drs Sitzer, Siebler, Rademacher, and Steinmetz); Hematology, Oncology, and Clinical Immunology (Dr Söhngen); Rheumatology and Endocrinology (Dr Specker); Cardiology, Pneumology, and Angiology (Dr Janda); and Institute for Diagnostic Radiology (Dr Aulich), Heinrich-Heine-University, Dusseldorf, Germany.
CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us Digg Reddit Technorati
What's this?
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
Effects of antithrombin on Binswanger's disease with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome
Akiguchi et al.
Neurology 1999;52:398-398.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Review : Detection of cerebral microemboli in APS-- Introducing a novel investigation method and implications of analogies with carotid artery disease
Specker et al.
Lupus 1998;7:S75-S80.
ABSTRACT
Cerebral microemboli in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome
Specker et al.
Lupus 1997;6:638-644.
ABSTRACT
The Natural Course of Cerebral Lesions in Sneddon Syndrome
Tourbah et al.
Arch Neurol 1997;54:53-60.
ABSTRACT
|