Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become an important treatment option for carefully screened medication resistant neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. DBS therapy is not always applied deep to the brain; does not have to be applied exclusively to the brain; and the mechanism for DBS is not simply stimulation of structures. The applications and target locations for DBS devices are rapidly expanding, with many new regions of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and muscles now possibly accessed through this technology. We will review the idea of “electrical neuro-network modulation (ENM)”; discuss the importance of the complex neural networks underpinning the effects of DBS; discuss the expansion of brain targets; discuss the use of fiber based targets; and discuss the importance of tailoring DBS therapy to the symptom, rather than the disease.

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A 51-year-old woman was referred to our department for a precise examination of her neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) symptoms. She had recurrent attacks of consciousness disturbance, cerebellar ataxia and diplopia (10 years ago), paraparesis and dysesthesia in four limbs (7 years ago), and consciousness disturbance and paraparesis (4 years ago). Neurological examination disclosed bilateral temporal pallor of the optic disc, atrophy and fasciculation of the right side of the tongue, dysesthesia in four limbs, mild motor weakness of both lower limbs, hyperreflexia in the right leg, pathological reflexes in bilateral lower limbs, and spastic bladder. T₂-weighted cranial MRI showed lesions in the bilateral hypothalami and the dorsal portion of the medulla oblongata on the right side. T₂-weighted spinal MRI revealed longitudinally extensive spinal cord lesions at T2–T8. A visual-evoked potential study disclosed prolonged latency of P100 bilaterally. During the examination, slight skin changes on the lower extremities indicative of scleroderma were observed, with no evidence of organ involvement. Skin biopsy showed increased numbers and swelling of collagen fibers. Thus, the patient was diagnosed with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc). She also clinically manifested Sjögren syndrome. Her serum was positive for anti-nuclear, anti-centromere, and anti-aquaporin-4 antibodies. Following the administration of corticosteroids (25 mg/alternative day) the patient became stable. A variety of collagen diseases or autoimmune disorders have been reported to be major complications of NMOSD; however, the coexistence of lcSSc and NMOSD is extremely rare. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of a case with the coexistence of both conditions. Physicians should be aware of scleroderma in patients with NMOSD, even if patients do not complain of skin symptoms.

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A 35-years-old right-handed man admitted to our hospital with a worsening of dysarthria, left facial palsy and left hemiparesis for 2 days. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was diagnosed when he was 28 years old. At that time, he also was treated for syphilis. After highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) was introduced at the age of 35 years old, serum level of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was not detected, but the number of CD4+ T cells was still less than 200/μl. He had no risk factors of atherosclerosis including hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia. He had neither coagulation abnormality nor autoimmune disease. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed acute ischemic infarction spreading from the right corona radiate to the right internal capsule without contrast enhancement. Stenosis and occlusion of intracranial arteries were not detected by MR angiography. Although argatroban and edaravone were administered, his neurological deficits were worsened to be difficult to walk independently. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination showed a mild mononuclear pleocytosis (16/μl).　Oligoclonal band was positive. The titer of anti-varicella zoster virus (VZV) IgG antibodies was increased, that indicated VZV reactivation in the central nervous system (CNS), although VZV DNA PCR was not detected. Therefore, acyclovir (750 mg/day for 2 weeks) and valaciclovir (3,000mg/day for 1 month) were administered in addition to stroke therapy. He recovered to be able to walk independently 2 month after the admission.Angiography uncovered a saccular aneurysm of 3 mm at the end of branch artery of right anterior cerebral artery, Heubner artery, 28 days after the admission. We speculated that VZV vasculopathy caused by VZV reactivation in CNS was involved in the pathomechanism of cerebral infarction rather than HIV vasculopathy in the case.

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We report a 59-year-old right-handed woman with smoldering leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 (LGI1) antibody-associated limbic encephalitis (LE) following faciobrachial dystonic seizures. During 8 months before her admission, she developed partial seizures manifesting very brief and very frequent dystonia in her right hand sometimes with oral automatism and loss of awareness. In addition, she showed psychiatric disturbances such as emotionally labile condition and personality changes. On admission, neuropsychological examination revealed short-term memory impairment. During electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring, ictal EEG showed rhythmic delta waves and interictal EEG showed intermittent irregular slow waves at the bilateral frontotemporal area. Brain MRI demonstrated high T₂/FLAIR signal changes in the left amygdala expanding into the left hippocampus. FDG-PET showed hypermetabolism in the left amygdala, hippocampus and the bilateral basal ganglia. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was unremarkable. There were no signs of malignant tumor detected on systemic examination. LGI1 antibody was positive in the serum and the cerebrospinal fluid and the clinical diagnosis of LGI1 antibody-associated LE was confirmed. Her symptoms and the abnormalities in the brain MRI/FDG-PET showed immediate improvement after anti-epileptic and steroid therapy.

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A 54-year-old woman presented with complex partial seizure with impaired consciousness. Brain MRI revealed a high intensity lesion on T₂-weighted and FLAIR images in the left temporal lobe, indicating limbic encephalitis. CT and MRI of the pelvis showed right ovarian teratoma. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were positive for antibodies against the GluRε2, GluRδ2, and antibodies against NR1 + NR2B heteromers. On the basis of these data, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis associated with ovarian teratoma was suspected, and the right ovariectomy was performed. Six months after onset, brain biopsy from the right temporal lobe led to a diagnosed of glioblastoma. This is the first glioblastoma case with ovarian teratoma having autoantibodies against GluR and NR1 + NR2B heteromers in CSF. We suggest that patients with NMDAR antibodies should be carefully diagnosed with anti-NMDAR encephalitis.

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Here, we report a case of Hashimoto’s encephalopathy (HE) mimicking Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). A 57-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for status epilepticus. He had gradually presented personality change over the last two years. On admission, he was in state of akinetic mutism. He exhibited seizures on the left side of his body, including the face, and intermittent myoclonic movement. Routine laboratory tests showed no abnormalities, including thyroid functions. An EEG study showed typical periodic synchronous discharge (PSD). Brain MRI showed high-intensity areas in the bilateral frontal cortex, thalamus, and right insula on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI). So, initially, sporadic CJD was suspected. However, there were no abnormalities in the caudate or putamen on MRI. Anti-TG and anti-TPO antibodies, as well as anti-NAE antibody were all positive. He was administered methylpredonisolone pulse therapy. Subsequently, his consciousness levels and EEG and MRI findings markedly improved. So, he was finally diagnosed with HE. HE should be considerd in patients with PSD on EEG, even if the patients have typical MRI abnormalities of CJD. Anti-thyroid antibodies should be examined in such patients.

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We present a case of a patient with reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) triggered by nicotine patches. A-50-year-old woman had no medical history and no regular medication. She smoked 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years. Six days after using nicotine patches, she had recurrent severe headaches of sudden onset (thunderclap headaches). On examination, the blood pressure was 142/88 mmHg. Her neurological and general examination, laboratory serum investigations, and cerebrospinal fluid examination were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) on admission, day 10 after the first episode showed severe multifocal segmental narrowing of the bilateral posterior cerebral artery (PCA). Cessation of nicotine patches and administration of calcium-channel antagonist amlodipine 5 mg daily ameliorated her headache. Follow-up MRA, 37 days after the first episode, showed improvement of PCA stenosis. We diagnosed her as reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) due to nicotine patches. It is important to recognize nicotine patches as a trigger of RCVS.

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We described a 28-year-old woman with insulinoma-induced hypoglycemic coma. Her initial diffusion-weighted MRI revealed diffuse hyperintense lesions involving bilateral hemispheric white matter. She did not respond to the initial treatment with glucose. However, after surgical removal of insulinoma, she began to recover gradually, and 1 year later, returned to her previous work. In general, the outcome of hypoglycemic coma with widespread leukoencephalopathy on MRI is thought to be poor. However, we should be aware that some of such cases could recover in the long term.

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A 34-year-old woman presented with new intermittent short lasing headache around the left eye accompanied with lacrimation. She suffered from anemia and visual disturbance due to thalassaemia beta heterotype and retinitis pigmentosa. She also had continual cephalalgia from about 9 years old, and was taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug almost every day. After the medical treatment, we diagnosed her headache as migraine without aura, medication overuse headache (MOH) and short lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with cranial autonomic symptoms (SUNA). Triptan was effective for a migraine headache, but it was ineffective for attacks of SUNA, while topiramate dramatically reduced the SUNA attacks. A headache diary was effective to evaluate the clinical course and the effect of treatment for two different types of headaches by devising the approach to description. A migraine and MOH may coexist with SUNA, and our attention should be paid to the diagnosis and medical treatment in such cases.

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Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a zoonotic pathogen in pigs, which can be transmitted to humans by close contact. Meningitis is the most common clinical manifestations of S. suis infection and hearing impairment is a frequent complication. The risk of S. suis meningitis is higher in people who work in the swine industry. The patient was a 53-year-old woman working in the swine industry, who developed headache and fever 20 days after a swine bite. She was diagnosed as meningitis and S. suis was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid. We treated her with ceftriaxone, vancomycin, and dexamethasone, and signs of meningeal irritation diminished three days after admission. However, bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment occurred on the ninth day after admission. We added methylprednisolone (500 mg, 2 days) but moderate hearing impairment remained on the left. Antibiotic therapy should be considered for wounds of people involved in the swine industry for preventing S. suis infection.When S. suis meningitis occurs, symptoms of hearing impairment must be monitored carefully.

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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[in Japanese]

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