After establishing latent infection, some viruses can be reactivated by the alteration of host immunological conditions. First, we reviewed viruses that can cause neuronal damage by reactivation. Then we focused on the herpes simplex virus (HSV). The reactivation leads to neuronal damages through two possible mechanisms; “reactivation of a latent herpes virus” by which viruses can cause direct virus neurotoxicity, and “post-infectious immune inflammatory response” by which a focal reactivation of HSV leads to an inflammatory reaction. The former is radiologically characterized by cortical lesions, the latter is characterized by subcortical white matter lesions. We experienced a female, who underwent the right posterior quadrantectomy and then developed recurrent herpes encephalitis caused by herpes simplex reactivation, which pathologically demonstrated inflammation in the white matter, suggesting a post-infectious immune inflammatory response. The patient was successfully treated with immunosuppressants. The reactivation of the HSV is extremely rare in Japan. Neurologists should recognize this condition because this disorder will increase as epilepsy surgery gains more popularity.

We report a case of left-handed bilingual aphasia with phonemic paraphasia and language mixing from Japanese as a first language to English as a second language. The lesion caused by cerebral infarction was mainly localized in the left parietal lobe white matter. The patient was a 46-year-old, left-handed woman who was bilingual in Japanese and English. Both auditory and visual comprehensions were well maintained after the acute phase of the disease; however, language mixing between Japanese and English was observed during Japanese speech. A pathophysiological interpretation of this case required a focus on the brain network. Our findings suggest that lesions of the superior longitudinal fasciculus and arcuate fasciculus of the white matter fibers just below the left inferior parietal lobule are associated with bilingual aphasia.

A 59-year-old woman presented with right hemiparesis and was transported from outside hospital. MRI revealed acute infarction and the left middle cerebral artery M2 occlusion. Intravenous infusion of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator, and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) were performed. The cause of cerebral infarction was diagnosed as Libman-Sacks endocarditis. She discharged without sequelae. After 10 months later, she presented with mild cognitive decline, and MRI showed new white matter lesion in left deep white matter. In magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the lesion showed an increased rate of choline/creatine, and a decreased rate of N-acetylaspartate/creatine, elevated lactate peak. When new higher brain dysfunction presented after recanalization by MT, it might be related to the delayed white matter lesion.

We describe an unusual case of a 73-year-old man with amaurosis fugax. He had repeated transient monocular symptoms, one of which features lighting bolt-shaped glittering in the full visual field of the right eye since medical treatment for hypertension and diabetes mellitus started. A few days later, he felt difficulty in speech as well as sensory and motor disturbance in the left upper extremity, which finally brought him to our hospital. An MR scan unveiled subacute infarctions dotted in the right cerebral hemisphere and severe carotid stenosis on the same side with a delayed distal flow. He was hospitalised with diagnosed an ischemic stroke. Despite being treated with antithrombotic agents, he had suffered similar visual symptoms repeatedly and therefore, carotid artery stenting was performed on Day 16 starting from the onset. The right ophthalmic artery and choroidal crescent became depicted angiographically after our surgery had been completed. His visual disturbance has never appeared since then. Consequently, it is suggested that the optic disorders were attributed to a hemodynamically precarious state in the area of the ophthalmic artery.

A 60-year-old man developed dyspnea without apparent limb weakness. He had cardiomyopathy in his 30s and was treated for chronic heart failure since 42. He was diagnosed as having four and a half LIM domains 1 (FHL1) mutation at 53 following the same diagnosis of his younger brother. He was first admitted to the cardiology department for possible worsening of chronic cardiac failure. Blood gas analysis showing respiratory acidosis prompted his treatment with a respirator. Neurological examination revealed that he had mild weakness limited to the shoulder girdle muscles and contracture at jaw, spine, elbows and ankles. Skeletal muscle CT showed truncal atrophy. He, as well as his younger brother, was diagnosed with FHL1 myopathy resulting in ventilation failure and was discharged after successful weaning from the respirator in the daytime. The present sibling cases are the first with FHL1 mutation to develop respiratory failure without limb weakness and suggest that FHL1 myopathy as a differentially diagnosis of hereditary myopathies with early respiratory failure.

A 71-year-old man had persistent cervical pain secondary to thunderclap headache during sleep. MRI conducted the next morning revealed subdural hematoma and convexity subdural hemorrhage on the right occipital region, and the patient was hospitalized. MRA showed vascular narrowing in the bilateral PCA. Follow-up MRA on day 8 of admission showed aggravated vascular narrowing of PCA, indicative of reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS). The patient was treated with a calcium-channel antagonist. Post-discharge MRA showed improvement of PCA narrowing, and the diagnosis of RCVS was confirmed.

A 65-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a 6-year history of painful muscle stiffness in his trunk and lower limbs, preventing him from walking. Stiff-person syndrome (SPS) was diagnosed because the patient had symptoms of painful muscle spasms elicited by tactile stimulation without joint contracture. Although SPS- related autoantibodies in the serum, including anti-glycine R, anti-amphiphysin, anti-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), anti-dipeptidyl peptidase-like protein (DPPX) and anti-γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABA_A) R, were negative, the ACTH and cortisol levels were low. On the basis of additional loading tests for anterior pituitary function and ACTH, isolated ACTH deficiency (IAD) was diagnosed. Hormonal replacement therapy with hydrocortisone at 15 mg/day ameliorated the condition quickly, and the patient became asymptomatic after three months. Flexion contractures have been reported as musculoskeletal symptoms of IAD, but are not usually evident in patients with SPS. The present case illustrates that the painful muscle spasms elicited by tactile stimulation without joint contracture characteristic of SPS can also be symptoms of IAD.

A 47-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for scrutiny of limb weakness and orthostatic hypotension that had progressed from childhood. She had been treated for alacrima and esophageal achalasia from childhood. On admission, she had hyperreflexia of upper and lower extremities, distal predominant muscle atrophy in the lower extremities, decreased sensation of the distal extremities, and autonomic neuropathy. Her blood test results ruled out adrenal insufficiency, but Schirmer’s test was positive. Given the lacrimation symptoms, esophageal achalasia, and neuropathy, the patient was diagnosed with triple A syndrome in whom a c.463C>T mutation (p.R155C) was found in the AAAS gene by genetic testing. Triple A syndrome is an autosomal recessive inherited disease caused by mutations in the AAAS gene. Genetic testing of the AAAS gene should be considered in patients with one or two of main symptoms of triple A syndrome.

A 72-year-old female presented with slowly progressive dysphonia, which was a syllable-separated utterance, for three years. She had the rhythmic continues contraction of palatal and uvula muscles during speech with a frequency of about 2 Hz. The videoendoscopy showed that the rhythmic contraction, which synchronized in the nasopharynx and the larynx, did not disappear during vocalization. The swallowing videofluorography showed that the rhythmic contraction disappeared transiently during the swallowing reflex, and there was no aspiration. The MRI revealed olivary pseudohypertrophy and multiple microbleedings including the bilateral dentate nucleus. The degeneration of olivary nucleus secondary to the bilateral asymptomatic dentate nucleus microbleedings within the dentato-rubro-olivary pathway was thought to be a cause of palatal tremor. This is a first report that a dynamic relation between vocalization and swallowing in palatal tremor.