Inferior olivary hypertrophy and palatal tremor in cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis.

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is a rare lipid storage disorder, and palatal tremor, as well as inferior olivary hypertrophy in its clinical spectrum, is exceptional. A man in his 30s who presented with bilateral lower limb weakness and spasticity, progressively enlarging swelling in bilateral Achilles region and a history of intellectual disability and childhood bilateral cataracts was found to have a palatal tremor on examination and inferior olivary hypertrophy on neuroimaging. This case demonstrates some of the classical clinical and neuroimaging findings, as well as some uncommon features associated with CTX.

Role of vascular endothelial growth factor in tuberculous meningitis: A prospective study from a tertiary care center in North India.

Introduction: The status of vascular endothelial-derived growth factor (VEGF) in the pathogenesis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) remains far from clear. We prospectively evaluated the role of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) VEGF in TBM.

Patients And Methods: This prospective study was conducted at a tertiary care center in North India from January 2018 to June 2019.

Determining the diagnostic potential of Truenat MTB Plus for Tubercular lymphadenitis and detection of drug resistance and a comparison with GeneXpert Ultra.

Setting: Tubercular lymphadenitis (TBLA), the most common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, is a diagnostic challenge.

Objective: Truenat MTB Plus (TruPlus) along with Truenat Rif assay (TruRif) was evaluated for detection of TBLA and rifampicin resistance and compared with GeneXpert Ultra (Xpert Ultra).

Design: 100 fine-needle aspirated specimens [50 confirmed by culture/smear/cytology, 20 clinically suspected, and 30 controls], processed in the mycobacteriology division of department of microbiology were subjected to TruPlus and TruRif, Xpert Ultra and multiplex PCR.

Molecular diagnosis of Tuberculous meningitis: sdaA-based multi-targeted LAMP and GeneXpert Ultra.

Setting: Nucleic acid amplification techniques like GeneXpert and GeneXpert Ultra (Xpert Ultra), the first-line tests for diagnosing Tuberculous meningitis (TBM), are expensive and depend on sophisticated equipment.

Objective: The diagnostic potential of multitargeted loop-mediated isothermal assay (MLAMP), a low-cost simple test using novel gene combination, was evaluated for TBM.

Design: 300 CSF specimen (200 TBM patients, 100 controls) processed between January 2017 and December 2021 were subjected to MLAMP (using sdaA, IS1081 and IS6110 gene targets), sdaA PCR and Xpert Ultra.

Neurological manifestations of scrub typhus: encephalitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).

Scrub typhus is a tropical febrile illness that mainly affects rural populations in tropical and subtropical countries. It can range in severity from a mild febrile illness to multisystem involvement. Systemic dysfunction often appears in the second week of sickness, and hepatic, renal and brain involvement are well documented.