Difference between revisions of "7° Clinical case: Brainstem neoplasm in Orofacial pain"

{{main menu}}

[[File:Capsaicina.jpg|left|300x300px]]

This chapter presents a case of absolute epistemological importance in the sense that it highlights a gap in the diagnostic process based on evidence-based medicine (EBM). This last term, in fact, is inextricably linked to the basic scientific knowledge already known as <math>KB </math> (Basic knowledge).  

This chapter was a milestone that led the author to the creation of Masticationpedia so that these cases can be taken in the right time to ensure at least a relatively peaceful end of life and not in 10 years of Orofacial Pain (OP) by collecting misdiagnoses.

=== Introduction ===

The brain stem is the caudal portion of the brain that connects the diencephalon to the spinal cord and cerebellum.<ref>Hurley RA, Flashman LA, Chow TW, Taber KH. The brainstem: anatomy, assessment, and clinical syndromes. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2010;22(1):iv. doi: 10.1176/jnp.2010.22.1.iv. </ref> The brainstem mediates the sensory and motor pathways between the spinal cord and the brain and contains the nuclei of the cranial nerves, the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS), and the autonomic nuclei. It controls brainstem reflexes and the sleep-wake cycle and is responsible for autonomous control of the cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive and immune systems. Brainstem dysfunction can result from various acute or chronic insults, including stroke, infectious, cancer, inflammatory, and neurodegenerative diseases. In the context of critical illness, the brain stem can be susceptible to various insults that can be classified as structural and non-structural in origin. Brainstem dysfunction can therefore contribute to impaired consciousness, cardiocirculatory and respiratory insufficiency and therefore to increased mortality <ref>Annane D, Trabold F, Sharshar T, Jarrin I, Blanc AS, Raphael JC, et al. Inappropriate sympathetic activation at onset of septic shock: a spectral analysis approach. Am J Respir Crit Care Med août. 1999;160(2):458–465. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.160.2.9810073.</ref><ref>Sharshar T, Porcher R, Siami S, Rohaut B, Bailly-Salin J, Hopkinson NS, et al. Brainstem responses can predict death and delirium in sedated patients in intensive care unit. Crit Care Med août. 2011;39(8):1960–1967. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e31821b843b.</ref><ref>Sharshar T, Gray F, Lorin de la Grandmaison G, Hopkinson NS, Ross E, Dorandeu A, et al. Apoptosis of neurons in cardiovascular autonomic centres triggered by inducible nitric oxide synthase after death from septic shock. Lancet Lond Engl. 2003;362(9398):1799–1805. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14899-4. </ref><ref>Mazeraud A, Pascal Q, Verdonk F, Heming N, Chrétien F, Sharshar T. Neuroanatomy and physiology of brain dysfunction in sepsis. Clin Chest Med. 2016;37(2):333–345. doi: 10.1016/j.ccm.2016.01.013.</ref> and especially manifest as orofacial pain (OP).[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6945639/ Brainstem dysfunction in critically ill patients]: