The natural history of Rasmussen's XXXX .

@entity1 @entity410 @entity198 @entity1269 @entity75 @entity302 @entity1779
Rasmussen's @entity198 (RE) is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown origin, usually affecting one brain hemisphere. In the present study, a comprehensive assessment of the natural history of the disorder is presented. @entity410 frequency, degree of @entity1269 and degree of @entity1779 in 13 @entity1 with histopathologically proven RE are analysed over the time course prior to resective @entity302 surgery or introduction of long-term immunosuppressive pharmacotherapy. For the assessment of the degree of @entity1779 , on defined slices comprising the Sylvian fissure of hard copies of serial MRI investigations, the hemispheric ratio (HR) was determined. The data show an initial prodromal phase with an intermediate frequency of focal onset @entity410 and mostly no @entity1269 . The occurrence of this stage was mainly observed in the adolescent and adult @entity1 . All @entity1 went through an acute phase with a median duration of 8 months. During this stage, there were frequent simple partial motor @entity410 , development of @entity1269 and volume loss of the affected hemisphere. After this, the @entity1 passed into a residual stage with a marked decrease in @entity410 frequency. Twelve months after the onset of the acute stage, the average HR was 0.72. These data allow an estimation of the prognosis of newly affected @entity1 , and demonstrate that most of the @entity75 in RE occurs during the first 8-12 months. These findings should be taken into consideration when future therapeutic approaches to RE are evaluated.
