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Brainstem Viral‐like Encephalitis as a Possible Cause of a Gastroduodenal Motility Disorder: A Case Report
Author(s) -
Bortolotti M.,
Mattioli S.,
Alampi G.,
Giangaspero G.,
Barbara L.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
neurogastroenterology and motility
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.489
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1365-2982
pISSN - 1350-1925
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2982.1989.tb00147.x
Subject(s) - brainstem , dorsal motor nucleus , medicine , autopsy , vagus nerve , pathology , nucleus ambiguus , viral encephalitis , encephalitis , central nervous system , immunology , medulla oblongata , virus , stimulation
The case of a 36‐year‐old caucasiun woman who suffered for many years from gastric retention and duodenogastric reflux due to gastroduodenal motor dysfunction resistant to therapy with prokinetic drugs is described. As the patient died suddenly of an unexplained cardiocirculatory collapse a few hours after a low‐risk operation, an autopsy examination was carried out to clarify the cause of death. No alterations were found in the heart, lungs, and central nervous system with the exception of a subacute viral‐like brainstem encephalitis involving the dorsal motor nucleus of the nervus vagus, the nucleus XII, the nucleus tractus solitaruis, and the nucleus ambiguus. A clinico‐pathologic correlate between the clinical alterations and the lesions of the brainstem centers, which modulate gastrointestinal and cardiovascular functions, is surmised.