Ambăruş V, Cosovanu A, Ungureanu G, Grozdan R, Ionescu S, Caşcaval C, Samoil T, Noghin M, Rezuş C, Leuciuc E
Facultateta de Medicină, Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie Gr. T. Popa, Iaşi.
Rev Med Chir Soc Med Nat Iasi. 1996 Jan-Jun;100(1-2):85-7.
Collagen diseases are precipitated by very different etiologic factors, but have a common pathogenic mechanism--autoimmune, which evolves chronically and progressively involving new territories. The initial and main pathologic lesions are vascular arterial ischemic (and, according to the prevalently involved territory, the type of disease results: PAN--medium-sized and small arterioles; scleroderma--small arterioles and capillaries), and the secondary ones are the result of ischemia with plurivisceral involvement. Neurological dysfunctions were detected in about 50% of collagen diseases diagnosed during a 25 year interval in the IIIrd Medical Clinic of Iaşi. The neurological manifestations were inaugural in 10% (in SLE) to 46.4% (in PAN) of the cases, the remainder occurring during the course of collagenosis, more commonly at 3-5 years and before death. Peripheral nervous system involvement (mainly polyneuritis) has prevailed, the central nervous system involvement being more rare and often fatal. Long-term corticosteroid therapy was followed by full or partial remission of peripheral nervous dysfunctions, but had transient effects or was ineffective on the central nervous ones.
