Hypertensive Encephalopathy: Clinical and Neuroradiological Findings

Hypertensive encephalopathy is a syndrome consisting of headache, seizures, visual changes, and other neurologic disturbances in patients with elevated systemic blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to analyse the clinical and neuroradiological findings in nine patients with hypertensive encephalopathy, observed in five years.

CT (n = 13), and MR (n = 12), examinations performed in these patients before and after resolution of symptoms were reviewed. Six had the preeclampsia-eclampsia syndrome, and three had hypertensive encephalopathy due to other causes. CT and MR findings in all patients having these examinations were indicative of oedema in the cortex and subcortical white matter in the occipital lobes. Two of the nine patients also had similar findings in the cerebellum and frontal lobes.

The findings on the CT and MR studies resolved on follow-up examinations performed after the hypertension was corrected.

Our results suggest that the radiological findings associated with hypertensive encephalopathy in the appropriate clinical setting are very useful to achieve an early diagnosis.

The D3cpv Cameleon reports Ca²⁺ dynamics in plant mitochondria with similar kinetics of the YC3.6 Cameleon, but with a lower sensitivity

Mitochondria are key organelles involved in many aspects of plant physiology and, their ability to generate specific Ca²⁺ signatures in response to abiotic and biotic stimuli has been reported as one of their roles. The recent identification of the mammalian mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uniporter opens a new research area in plant biology. To study the mitochondrial Ca²⁺ handling, it is essential to have a reliable probe. Here we have reported the generation of an Arabidopsis transgenic line expressing the genetically encoded probe Cameleon D3cpv targeted to mitochondria, and compared its properties with the already known Cameleon YC3.6.