Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
3420132 | Revue de Pneumologie Clinique | 2007 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
The two patients age 51 and 52 years had an uneventful past history and presented with hypercapnic encephalopathy with acute respiratory failure requiring ventilatory assistance. Respiratory function tests, helicoidal thoracic computed tomographic angiography, electromyogram, cardiac echography, and thyroid and immunological tests were normal. Blood gases and polysomnography were in favor of central hypoventilation without sleep apnea. Magentic resonance imaging demonstrated type I Arnold-Chiari malformation. The course was complicated by recurrent respiratory failure in both patients. Surgical decompression performed for the first patient provided no improvement. This patient died two months after surgery subsequent to aspiration pneumonia. The second patient was treated with continuous positive pressure noninvasive ventilatory assistance and had a good outcome at 25 months. These two cases illustrate the absence of any neurological sign, acute respiratory failure being the only sign of Arnold-Chiari malformation.
Related Topics
Health Sciences
Medicine and Dentistry
Infectious Diseases
Authors
N. Chaouch, S. Meraï, S. Cheikh Rouhou, K. Ben Romdhane, S. Ben Mrad, M. Besbes, F. Tritar,