Key result
Autopsy links subacute viral-like brainstem encephalitis to sudden cardiocirculatory collapse in a 36-year-old woman.
Why the study?
Gastroduodenal motor dysfunction resistant to prokinetic therapy with unclear etiology and sudden unexplained cardiocirculatory collapse motivated investigation of brainstem involvement.
Case Report (n=1)
This case report suggests a potential clinico-pathologic correlation between subacute viral-like brainstem encephalitis and severe gastroduodenal motor dysfunction leading to sudden cardiocirculatory collapse.
May link brainstem encephalitis to refractory gastroduodenal dysmotility and sudden collapse; leaves open a novel mechanism for targeted investigation.
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.
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Bortolotti et al. (1989) conducted a case report in Gastroduodenal motility disorder and unexplained cardiocirculatory collapse (n=1). Subacute viral-like brainstem encephalitis was evaluated on Autopsy findings to clarify cause of death. Autopsy of a 36-year-old woman with chronic gastroduodenal motor dysfunction and sudden cardiocirculatory collapse revealed subacute viral-like brainstem encephalitis as a possible underlying cause.
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