FCE of the spinal cord, often mis-diagnosed as transverse myelitis, may be more common than presumed. Future research into FCE, including the development of a chondrolytic therapy that can be given empirically upon its clinical suspicion to acutely reverse its symptoms, may be of value.

No abstract

Fig. 2. Patient 2. (A, B) Axial T2 FLAIR showing hyperintense foci (arrows) involving the subcortical white matter of the right occipital lobe and the left cerebellar hemisphere with effacement of the adjacent local sulci compatible with PRES. (C, D) Axial susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) showing characteristic petechial hemorrhage (arrows) often seen with PRES. Of note, diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and T1 post-contrast imaging were unremarkable.

Most HIV-infected patients treated with intravenous tPA for presumed and actual acute ischemic stroke had no complications, and we observed no fatalities. Stroke mimics were common, and thrombolysis seems safe in this group. We found no data to suggest an increased risk of intravenous tPA-related complications because of concomitant opportunistic infections or intravenous drug abuse.