Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) is widely used as an indicator of physical disability after the onset of stroke and a main evaluation scale in clinical stroke trials but sometimes has discrepancies among raters. We designed a Japanese version of simplified mRS questionnaire (J-RASQ) to evaluate mRS using closed question to assess the difference from the original. Currently there are no Japanese version of mRS questionnaire and its validity and reliability assessment has been warranted. Patients with planned visit to our hospital between 60 and 120 days after the onset of cerebral hemorrhage or infarction between August 2017 and March 2018 were recruited. J-RASQ was distributed before the outpatient visit to stroke patients, families or caregivers, and response was obtained. Thereafter, outpatient attending physicians qualified as stroke or neurological specialists evaluated mRS according to the Japanese version of guidance scheme for mRS. Subsequently, 130 patients (mean age, 72 ± 12 years old) were enrolled, and the difference between the two scale scores (mRS vs. J-RASQ) were statistically examined by the κ statistic and the weighted κ statistic. The κ statistic was 0.42 (95% CI, 0.31–0.52), and the weighted κ statistic calculated taking into account the extent of disagreement was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.70–0.86). We conclude that the J-RASQ appears to have decent reliability and is similar to the existing mRS.

A survey was conducted with neurologists regarding their attitudes toward cannabis. Comparison was made between respondents who had previously been exposed to information about cannabis (31 neurologists), hereafter referred to as the “informed group,” and those who had not (81 neurologists), hereafter referred to as the “non-informed group.” While more than half of the respondents in both groups showed some acceptance toward the usage of cannabis for research purposes, there was a stronger tendency to accept the use of cannabis for medical purposes in the informed group. Since this acceptance was more often displayed by respondents who had adequate knowledge of the medical use of cannabis, this suggests that providing information on cannabis is useful in promoting acceptance. The result of the survey indicated that a portion of neurologists acknowledges the usefulness of cannabis, and that one’s receptivity toward cannabis can be improved if adequate information is provided about cannabis.

A 53-year-old man with hypertension experienced sudden cardiopulmonary arrest. Ambulance crews detected ventricular fibrillation that responded to defibrillation. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation resulted in return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after 30 minutes. At admission to our hospital, he was in a comatose state. Therapeutic hypothermia was performed for two days with other supportive care. However, despite these therapies, he remained comatose, and a diagnosis of post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) was made. On the sixth hospital day, an electroencephalogram (EEG) showed lateralized periodic discharges (LPDs) in the right occipital area evolving to electrographic seizures. Over roughly 15 minutes, this evolution process repeated 10 times, demonstrating a cyclic seizure pattern. Intravenous administration of 10 mg diazepam resulted in temporal attenuation of the high-amplitude discharges followed by LPDs re-emergence accompanying a low-amplitude fast rhythm on the background activity (LPDs+). Antiepileptic drugs administration was continued, along with supportive care. He opened his eyes on the 11th hospital day, after which his general conditions showed a good recovery. He was discharged on the 30th day without any sequelae.

A 76-year-old man, diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in 2010, had been on nilotinib for 7 years. He presented with right hemiparesis in September 2017. He had no history of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, or smoking. Brain MRI revealed a border-zone infarction of the left cerebral hemisphere and a rapidly progressing severe left internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. He was initiated on clopidogrel and bosutinib instead of nilotinib. He presented with right hemiparesis once again in December 2017. Brain MRI revealed the border-zone infarction of the left cerebral hemisphere and a more progressed, severe bilateral ICA stenosis. A carotid ultrasound demonstrated iso-intense and concentrically narrowed ICA on both sides. Carotid artery stenting of the left ICA was performed in February 2018, and clopidogrel was replaced by cilostazol to provide a drug-induced rush. Carotid artery stenting of the right ICA was performed in June 2018 and cervical angiogram demonstrated that there were no residual artery stenoses in the bilateral stent. In recent years, several case reports suggest that tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are associated with progressive artery stenosis and cause cerebral infarction. Brain imaging tests should be conducted to evaluate arterial stenosis progression for patients with a history of taking TKI when an arterial vascular event occurs.

Neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease (NIID) is a neurodegenerative disease presenting with various manifestations including dementia, weakness, transient impaired consciousness, encephalitis-like episodes and also epileptic seizures. However, the nature of epileptic seizures, focal or generalized onset, remains unclear. A man at age 76 was admitted to a local hospital due to febrile impaired consciousness lasting several days. During the hospital stay, a generalized convulsion occurred, and afterward he remained obtunded. He was transferred to our hospital for further treatment. One additional seizure occurred while on an ambulance to our hospital and two additional seizures shortly after the arrival, which indicated convulsive status epilepticus (SE). The ictal EEG showed low amplitude fast activity arising from the left centro-parietal area with an evolutionary pattern. The clinical concomitant was the contralateral versive seizure evolving to a bilateral convulsion. Inter-ictal epileptiform abnormalities seen on the tracings taken on later days consisted of brief potentially ictal rhythmic discharges (B(I)RDs) and frequent sharp waves recorded from both frontal areas. These findings along with the ictal discharges would indicate a multifocal epileptic disorder in this patient. Diffusion weighted images (DWIs) of this patient showed hyperintensity signals in the cortico-medullary junctions in the bilateral frontal and the left parietal regions. Skin biopsy revealed characteristic intranuclear inclusions, and hence the diagnosis of NIID was made. The regions of epileptic foci on EEG corresponded well to the hyperintensity areas in DWIs, which suggests the cerebral cortices near the DWI hyperintensity could be more hyperactive than other regions. This case report suggests that some of the prolonged impaired consciousness and the encephalitis-like episodes in NIID could be related to epileptic seizures and even non-convulsive SE or a post-ictal twilight state after an unwitnessed convulsion. This issue should be further studied for the appropriate treatment of episodic encephalopathy and epileptic seizures in NIID.

A 53-year-old man suffering from squamous cell lung cancer presented with bilateral ptosis and bulbar palsy a month after initial treatment with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab. The symptoms showed worsening from midday, suggesting myasthenia gravis (MG), although anti-AChR antibody was negative. Although no muscle weakness was detected, the CK level was elevated to 5,255 IU/l, and MRI of the thigh revealed inflammation of the bilateral rectus femoris muscle. A muscle biopsy showed signs of necrotizing myopathy with expression of sarcolemmal HLA class I and accumulation of macrophages, CD4, CD8, and CD20-positive lymphocytes. Positivity for anti-titin antibody, one of the anti-striated muscle antibodies, was evident. The patient was diagnosed as having nivolumab-related necrotizing myopathy with myasthenia gravis, an immune-related adverse event (irAE). Treatment with prednisolone rapidly ameliorated the symptoms, and the serum CK level normalized. There have been several reports of nivolumab-related myositis with MG. On the basis of the muscle pathology and antibody data, we were able to clarify that necrotizing myopathy was related to the pathogenesis of this case.

We report a 54-year-old man, who presented with an acute onset of diplopia and ptosis on the left side. On admission, neurological examination showed left oculomotor and abducens nerve palsy. Brain MRI showed thickening of the left parieto-temporal dura mater with gadolinium enhancement. Whole-body CT revealed a mass lesion in the right submandibular gland, diffuse goiter, and bilateral hilar lymph node enlargement. Initially, IgG4-related disease was considered because of an elevated serum IgG4 level (240 mg/dl); however, biopsy of the submandibular gland showed non-caseating epithelioid cell granulomas that suggested sarcoidosis, which could be associated with the intracranial lesions causing his neurological manifestation. In cases of hypertrophic pachymeningitis, especially with increased serum IgG4 including our case, a careful assessment with pathological examination is critical for identifying various underlying conditions.

A 69-year-old man presented with a history of personality change for several years. He was admitted to our hospital due to partial seizure. A cerebrospinal fluid test and an electroencephalogram showed no specific abnormalities, but brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed abnormal findings in the right temporal pole, bilateral amygdala to hippocampus, and insular cortex. He was diagnosed with limbic encephalitis accompanied by partial seizure, and received infusion of an antiepileptic agent and acyclovir. Additional examinations for malignancy and autoimmune disease were performed, and neck CT and MRI revealed a neck tumor. Neck lymph node biopsy suggested lymph node metastasis of a neuroendocrine neoplasm derived from other organs. He did not want aggressive treatment involving surgical resection and chemotherapy, and thus, conservative treatment was chosen by an otorhinolaryngologist and immunotherapy was not used. After discharge, the neck tumor grew gradually. To manage the focal mass effect, chemotherapy and surgical resection followed by chemoradiotherapy were performed by the otorhinolaryngologist on days 244 and 325 of the disease course, respectively. Histology of resected tissues disclosed neck neuroendocrine carcinoma derived from a submandibular gland. His personality change improved temporarily after surgical resection, but then worsened again with regrowth of the tumor. He died on day 723. After death, a blood test revealed the presence of anti-amphiphysin antibody. This case suggests that neck neuroendocrine carcinoma can induce paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis, and in such cases, early surgical resection of the neck tumor with suspected lymph node metastasis is necessary both to control symptoms associated with encephalitis and to exclude carcinoma derived from the neck itself.

A 39-year-old previously healthy man was referred to our hospital because of acute onset of fever and consciousness disturbance. Neurological examinations revealed deteriorated consciousness, nuchal rigidity and Kernig’s sign. A lumbar puncture yielded clouded fluid with a WBC 1,012/μl (polynuclear cell 96%), 147.3 mg/dl of protein, 44 mg/dl of glucose and Gram positive cocci. At first, he was treated with ceftriaxon and ampicillin. At Day 2, meropenem was added. Streptococcus agalactiae was isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid. He responded promptly to antimicrobial therapy, and within 2 days, he became lucid and afebrile. S. agalactiae was sensitive to ceftriaxone, ampicillin and meropenem. After Day 3, he was treated with meropenem only. We diagnosed his condition as S. agalactiae meningitis and was discharged from our hospital at Day 18. Many cases of S. agalactiae meningitis are known to occur in neonates, pregnant women, elderly, and persons with underlying disease such as diabetes, malignant disorders, liver dysfunction. But cases occurring in a previously healthy adult are rare. Neurologists should be aware that S. agalactiae may be cause bacterial meningitis in a previously healthy adults.