Is lenticulostriate Vasculopathy in Brain Ultrasonography Associated with Cytomegalovirus Infection in Newborns?
Lenticulostriate vasculopathy on neonatal ultrasonography is useful for predicting cytomegalovirus infection, particularly in severe lenticulostriate vasculopathy. When severe lenticulostriate vasculopathy is associated with a brain structure anomaly, cytomegalovirus infection should be considered. The outcomes for the cases in which cytomegalovirus infection was associated with other brain structure anomalies were significantly worse than the outcomes in cases associated with lenticulostriate vasculopathy only.
In our patient, substantially increased glucocorticoid levels were associated with severe insulin resistance, retarded wound healing, and persistent infections. Suppression of endogenous cortisol production and replacement with more physiologic concentrations of glucocorticoid were associated with clinical improvement and appeared to contribute to her recovery. Review of the literature leads us to propose the following hypotheses: (1) that considerably increased stress-induced cortisol concentrations in critically ill patients may contribute to adverse outcomes and (2) that therapeutic suppression of the persistent and substantially elevated glucocorticoid levels in selected cases may be a beneficial therapeutic option.