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BackgroundThe latest news shows several cases of contaminated heroin that is found in different parts all over Europe. This information can be helpful for the emergency doctors to find the correct diagnosis of wound botulism in patients who are intravenous drug users.Case presentationWe describe a case of a 40-year-old man who presented to the emergency department in 2016. He suffered from mild dysarthria, diplopia, dysphagia and ptosis since two days. The CT-scan of the cerebrum and the liquor were without any pathological results. We found out that the patient is an intravenous drug user and the clinical examination showed an abscess in the left groin. So we treated him with the suspected diagnosis of wound botulism.In the emergency operation we split the abscess, made a radical debridement and complementary treated him with a high dose of penicillin g and two units of botulism antitoxin. The suspected diagnosis was confirmed a few days later by finding the Toxin B in the abscess and in the patient’s serum. In the following days the neurological symptoms decreased and the wound healing was without any complications. The patient left the hospital after nine days; the antibiotic therapy with penicillin g was continued for several days. In a following examination, 14 days after the patient’s discharge of the hospital, no further symptoms were found and the abscess was treated successfully without any problems.ConclusionBecause wound botulism is a very rare disease it can be challenging to the attending physician. This case shows a fast treatment with full recovery of the patient without any further disabilities, which can be used for the future.

The nucleus ventrolateralis thalami (VLT) in pigeons receives direct retinal and forebrain projections and has reciprocal connections with the optic tectum. Although VLT is a component of the avian visual system, no study directly examined its connections or its cellular response characteristics. We, therefore, recorded from single units in the pigeon's VLT while visually stimulating the ipsi-and/or contralateral eye. In addition, tracing experiments were conducted to investigate its afferent connections. Electrophysiologically, we discovered three types of neurons, two of which were probably activated via a top-down telencephalotectal system (latencies > 100 ms). Type I neurons responded to uni-and bilateral and type II neurons exclusively to bilateral stimulation. Type III neurons were probably activated by retinal or retinotectal input (latencies < 27 ms) and responded to contra-and bilateral stimulation. Retrograde tracer injections into the VLT revealed an ipsilateral forebrain input from the visual Wulst, from subregions of the arcopallium, and bilateral afferents from the optic tectum. Most intriguing was the direct connection between the VLTs of both hemispheres. We suggest that the avian VLT is part of a system that integrates visuomotor processes which are controlled by both forebrain hemispheres and that VLT contributes to descending tectomotor mechanisms.