title: Posterior leukoencephalopathy and nephrotic syndrome: just a coincidence?
abstract: Posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (PLES) is an acute neurological disorder. The most plausible hypothesis for the pathophysiology of PLES is the loss of autoregulation and consequent vasogenic edema. PLES is mostly attributed to severe or sudden elevations of arterial blood pressure. A number of reports, however, describe patients with PLES without severe hypertension. This report presents two patients with nephrotic syndrome who developed PLES without customarily severe hypertension. Proteinuria, low levels of serum albumin, or generalized increase in capillary permeability in nephrotic syndrome can initiate PLES with moderately high arterial blood pressure levels. PLES is increasingly recognized by neurologists, but it should also be remembered by internists when confronted with patients with nephrotic syndrome who present with neurological symptoms, whether or not they have severe hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Internal Medicine, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. dcemaksoy@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Duygu Yazgan
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arici
authors.forename: Ahmet Alper
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kiykim
authors.forename: Mine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durusu
authors.forename: Gurdal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sahin
authors.forename: Dilek Ertoy
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Baydar
authors.forename: Bulent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Altun
authors.forename: Yunus
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Erdem
authors.forename: Unal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yasavul
authors.forename: Cetin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turgan
authors.forename: Sali
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caglar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D008875:Middle Aged; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000150:complications*