BACKGROUND The purpose of this brief communication is to alert ophthalmologists that optic neuropathy may herald acute retinal necrosis (ARN). CASE A previously healthy 54-year-old man exhibited optic neuropathy as an initial presentation of ARN, 8 weeks after varicella-zoster dermatitis. OBSERVATIONS Central retinal vascular obstruction developed subsequently in his left eye. Later, the cl...

Autoerythrocyte sensitization syndrome (AES) was first described by Gardner and Diamond in 1955, when four women with painful bruising were depicted. Patients with AES typically present with the development of recurrent, spontaneous, painful ecchymosis, frequently preceded by a prodrome of pain or itching of the skin. The patients are sensitive to their own red blood cells injected intradermall...

Myocarditis is simply defined as an inflammatory condition mainly located in the heart muscle, although considerable uncertainties still persist as to its etiologic, pathological, and clinical subclassifications. In addition to the possibility of an aspecific flulike prodrome, possible presentations include different degrees of heart failure (ranging from cardiogenic shock to subtly progressive...

BACKGROUND In the last decade, an increasing number of publications have examined the precursors of bipolar disorders (BD) and attempted to clarify the early origins and illness trajectory. This is a complex task as the evolution of BD often shows greater heterogeneity than psychosis, and the first onset episode of BD may be dominated by depressive or manic features or both. To date, most of th...

The First Annual Workshop of the Schizophrenia Prodrome was held in New York City in April 2002. This workshop was organized to address many of the unique methodological issues and controversies facing researchers interested in early intervention and prevention. It brought together representatives of most of the prodromal research groups active at that time as well as a number of consultants. T...