Dysgeusia is a frequent, yet underreported side effect of chemotherapy for cancer. We report here the first use of gabapentin in two glioblastoma patients who developed dysgeusia following intra-arterial administration of carboplatin or oral administration of lomustine, respectively. Treatment initiation was followed by resolution of taste alteration within weeks. Both patients reported significant improvement in their quality of life and regained weight, allowing further chemotherapy cycles. We hypothesized that in these two cases, chemotherapy impeded gustatory cells turnover and function, resulting in a gustatory “deafferentation-like” syndrome which was successfully addressed by the medication.

Ischemic monomelic neuropathy (IMN) is a little-known, painful axonal neuropathy, secondary to vascular occlusion or steal phenomenon. It typically occurs after vascular bypass, hemodialysis fistulization, or diabetic microvascular disease in the absence of significant clinical features of ischemia. There is limited literature to assist in the characterization and diagnosis of this condition. We describe three patients with IMN with no surgical or peripheral vascular disease history who exhibited spontaneous, persistent foot pain, edema numbness, and weakness with denervation on needle electromyogram in a distal lower leg peripheral nerve distribution. Occlusive disease was found in all patients on angiogram, requiring vascular bypass surgery.

Regional patient and physician density patterns pose problems to accessing care for people with Parkinson’s disease, though telehealth may improve access. We surveyed and conducted a focus group for people with Parkinson’s disease in Interior British Columbia regarding barriers to neurological care. Eighteen individuals completed the survey and seven parties joined the focus group. Perceived barriers include cost and difficulty of travel, wait times, and lack of specialized services outside large cities. 80% of participants (95% CI 64–96) would likely use telehealth for follow-up neurologist appointments. This sample of people with Parkinson’s disease reports willingness to use telehealth to reduce travel and improve access to specialty care.

The signs and symptoms of Lyme neuroborreliosis can overlap with non-infectious degenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we assessed a cohort of MS patients in Atlantic Canada for serological evidence of Lyme disease (LD). No positive serology was identified using the recommended two-tiered algorithm.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDA) encephalitis is a recently described autoimmune disease that typically presents with prodromal symptoms including upper respiratory tract infection, headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Psychiatric symptoms follow within weeks, including anxiety, insomnia, mania, paranoia and grandiose delusions. The diagnosis is confirmed by the detection of NMDA antibodies in the serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).1 Tumours, especially teratomas, are frequently associated with NMDA encephalitis; however, only 5% of male patients older than 18 years have been found to have an underlying tumour. Optic neuropathy associated with NMDA encephalitis is being increasingly recognised in the literature2–6 and was reviewed most recently by Mugavin et al.2 in 2017. In this report, we present a case of bilateral optic neuropathy in a young man diagnosed with NMDA receptor encephalitis.