Cerebral venous thrombosis in Behçet’s disease compared to those associated with other etiologies

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is caused by various etiologies. In Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries, Behçet’s disease (BD) is one of the leading causes of CVT. We aimed to evaluate any differences in CVT patients with and without BD. All registered patients with CVT were evaluated retrospectively. Clinical, neuroradiological findings and follow-up data were compared between patients with BD and patients with other etiologies. There were 36 patients with CVT and BD, and 32 patients with CVT related to other etiological causes. BD patients were younger (median age at onset 26 vs. 39 years; P < 0.001), and there was a male preponderance (28 males, 8 females) as compared to the non-BD group (10 males, 22 females; P < 0.001). Onset was frequently acute in the non-BD group, and it was subacute or chronic in the BD group. Hemi/quadriparesis, aphasia and seizures were significantly more common (P < 0.001) in the non-BD group. In the BD group 94% of the patients presented with symptoms of isolated intracranial hypertension (P < 0.001). Venous infarcts were observed in 63% of the patients with other causes and in 6% of the patients with BD (P < 0.001). At admission 97% of the patients in the BD group and 41% of the patients in the non-BD group had a modified Rankin score of 0–2. Outcome was good in all of the patients with BD and in 91% of patients with other causes. Clinical recurrences were seen in six patients with BD and in one patient without BD. CVT associated with BD has a subacute onset, mostly presents with signs of isolated intracranial hypertension and venous infarction rarely develops; these features distinguish CVT due to BD from those with other causes.     

The usefulness of chromoendoscopy with methylene blue in Barrett’s metaplasia and early esophageal carcinoma

Background Barrett’s esophagus is a condition that is premalignant for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and the esophagogastric junction. Early detection of Barrett’s metaplasia and dysplasia is very important to decrease the mortality and morbidity from esophageal adenocarcinoma cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of methylene blue–targeted biopsies in the differential diagnosis of intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and superficial esophageal carcinoma. Methods A total of 109 patients (43 women and 66 men; average age, 62.32 ± 10.61 years; range, 33–82 years) were enrolled for the study. Four groups were designed before endoscopic examinations. The patients for these groups were selected at the conventional endoscopy, and then chromoendoscopy was performed. The esophagus was stained with methylene blue, after which six biopsies were taken from stained and unstained areas. Results Conventional and chromoendoscopic assessments were compared with histopathologic examination. The sensitivity of chromoendoscopy for Barrett’s epithelium was superior to that of conventional endoscopy (p < 0.05). However, there was no statistical difference between the two methods in the diagnosis of esophagitis or esophageal carcinoma (p > 0.05). Stained biopsies were superior to unstained biopsies in terms of sensitivity for Barrett’s epithelium and esophageal carcinoma (p < 0.001). Conclusion Chromoendoscopy is useful for delineating Barrett’s epithelium and for indicating the correct location for securing biopsies where dysplasia or early esophageal cancer is suspected.