Anglo-French neurological interactions in the 19th and early 20th centuries: Physicians,places and events

The development of neurology as an independent discipline in the mid-19th century was considerably influenced by the almost simultaneous foundation of the Charcot School at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris and the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic and it's School at Queen Square in London in the 1860's. We have reviewed the early interactions between Charcot's school and the leading neurologists at the National Hospital and also discussed their neurological antecedents and subsequent links up to the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914. Earlier interactions involved Trousseau and Duchenne in France and Graves, Todd, Laycock and Allbutt in Britain. The French Brown–Séquard was one of the first two physicians appointed to the National Hospital. Charcot was a frequent visitor to Britain culminating in his influential role in the 1881 International Medical Congress in London. He first suggested the terms “Parkinson's Disease” and “Jacksonian Epilepsy”. He attracted numerous British visitors to Paris and his studies of hysteria were influenced by Laycock, Todd and Russell Reynolds. Hughlings Jackson drew upon the anatomical studies of Gratiolet in his interactions with Broca and Charcot which influenced French views on aphasia, epilepsy and cortical localisation. Ball, an Englishman, was the first Professor of mental and brain diseases in Paris in 1877. Bruce in Edinburgh and Kinnier Wilson in London both maintained frequent contacts with Paris, where the latter first presented his studies of hepatolenticular degeneration in 1912. The Entente Cordiale of 1904 led to further interactions with the leading role of the French and British physicians Raymond and Duckworth. Two outstanding British women, Elizabeth Garrett and Blanche Edwards, qualified in Medicine in Paris with neurological interests. Our review emphasises the constructive influence of the French and British Schools on each other and thus on the development of neurology. The French influence was primarily the establishment of the anatomo-clinical method and the use of photographic illustrations in publications. The British School influence was its Clinical Assessment Skills and scientific studies of newly recognised diseases and concepts and its early development of neurosurgery.     

'Neurophobia'– attitudes of medical students and doctors in Ireland to neurological teaching

(i) To determine whether neurology is the medical specialty with which Irish students and doctors have most difficulty, (ii) appraise attitudes towards how neurology is taught, and (iii) suggest ways teaching might be improved. A questionnaire on medical teaching was given to 457 medical students and junior doctors in Ireland. Perceived difficulties with neurology compared with seven other medical specialties were analysed. Other aspects of teaching were assessed including why neurology is perceived as difficult and ways teaching could be improved. Neurology was perceived as the most difficult of the eight medical specialties assessed. Participants felt they learned most at bedside tutorials with surprisingly few learning online. Neurology was perceived as difficult because of insufficient exposure to the subject, lack of teaching, and perceived complexity. Neurology teaching could be improved by increasing the number of bedside tutorials and by greater exposure to neurological patients for the students in clinical training. Medical students and doctors find neurology difficult. The teaching of neurology is reported as moderate to poor. The reasons for this are wide ranging but an emphasis on increased numbers of tutorials and greater integration of pre-clinical neurology to clinical years would improve teaching.     

神经病学临床见习教学的思考

本文从多方面介绍了神经病学临床见习的教学方法,认为临床见习的重点是理论联系实际及学生临床思维能力的培养,促进医学生向医生的转变。     

The burden of brain diseases in Europe.

The burden [as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO)] of brain diseases (neurological, neurosurgical and psychiatric diseases together) is very high and yet resources spent on these diseases are not necessarily commensurate with the extent of this burden. However, hard data on the burden of brain diseases in Europe have not previously been easily accessible. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 1990 study conducted jointly by the WHO, Harvard University and the World Bank provided new measures that are now becoming universally accepted and have been used also in a repeat study: The GBD 2000. The key parameter of the study is disability adjusted life years (DALY), which is the sum of years of life lost (YLL) caused by premature death and years of life lived with disability (YLD). In the present report, data from the GBD 2000 study and from the World Health Report 2001 on brain diseases is extracted for the territory of Europe. This territory corresponds roughly to the membership countries of the European Federation of Neurological Societies. The WHO's Report has a category called neuropsychiatric diseases, which comprises the majority but not all the brain diseases. In order to gather all brain diseases, stroke, meningitis, half of the burden of injuries and half of the burden of congenital abnormalities are added. Throughout Europe, 23% of the years of healthy life is lost and 50% of YLD are caused by brain diseases. Regarding the key summary measure of lost health, DALY, 35% are because of brain diseases. The fact that approximately one-third of all burden of disease is caused by brain diseases should have an impact on resource allocation to teaching, reasearch, health care and prevention. Although other factors are also of importance, it seems reasonable that one-third of the curriculum at medical school should deal with the brain and that one-third of life science funding should go to basic and clinical neuroscience. In addition, resource allocation to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases should be increased to approach, at least, one-third of health care expenditure. With the present data on hand, neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, patient organizations and basic neuroscientists have a better possibility to increase the focus on the brain.     

光化学脑梗塞动物模型建立的实验观察

利用某些光敏性染料在特定波长光线作用下发生光化学反应的原理，建立家兔局部脑梗塞动物模型。结果显示，模型制作前后全血粘度高切、低切，血浆脂质过氧化物（ＭＤＡ）均明显升高，红细胞变形指数显著降低（Ｐ＜０．０１）。并观察了脑梗塞病灶的大体形态学、细胞学和超微结构变化。结果表明，该模型制作简单，重复性好，病灶的部位、大小和深度容易控制，动物存活时间长，是一种较为理想的脑梗塞动物模型。     

3D facial morphometry in Italian patients affected by Aicardi syndrome

Aicardi syndrome (AIC) is a rare congenital neurodevelopmental disorder of unknown etiology, that affects almost exclusively females, originally characterized by corpus callosum agenesis, chorioretinal lacunae, and infantile spasms. The current diagnostic criteria also include qualitative facial features (prominent premaxilla, upturned nasal tip, decreased nasal bridge angle, sparse lateral eyebrows, and microphthalmia) that still need quantification. A three‐dimensional (3D) photogrammetric assessment of 11 Italian females, age 7–32 years, who satisfied AIC criteria, was performed. Linear distances and angles were computed from soft‐tissue facial landmarks coordinates. The z‐score values were calculated using data of 850 healthy reference females matched for age and compared by Mann–Whitney test (p < .01). Patients showed a shorter philtrum and right side orbital height (mean z‐scores: ?1.7, ?0.9), shorter superior, middle, and inferior facial depths (mean z‐scores: ?1.3, ?2.2, ?2.3), and a smaller length of mandibular ramus (mean z‐score: ?2.1); conversely, they showed larger nasal and lower facial widths, and lower facial convexity (mean z‐scores: 1.7, 1.4, 2.4). The inclinations of the orbit versus the true horizontal were increased bilaterally (mean z‐scores: 1.8, 1.1). Some common facial abnormalities were quantified in AIC patients using a noninvasive instrument. They may help clinicians in performing a definite AIC diagnosis in atypical or doubt cases.     

脑卒中后抑郁及其对神经功能康复的影响

目的:观察脑卒中后抑郁(Post-Stroke Depression,PSD)的发生率和相关因素;探讨选择性5-HT抑制剂对脑卒中后抑郁神经功能康复的影响.方法:选取急性脑脑卒中患者132例(脑梗死78例,脑出血54例),分别在病程2周、1,3,6,12月时给每一位入组患者行PSD诊断、神经功能缺损评分、日常生活能力评分(Activity of Daily Living Scale,ADL)、汉密尔顿抑郁量表(Hamilton Depression Scale,HAMD)评分;同时完成Zung's抑郁自评量表(Self-Rating Depression Scale,SDS)和焦虑自评量表(Self-Rating Anxiety Scale,SAS).结果:①脑卒中患者中约44.70%出现抑郁症状;②脑卒中类型和性别与PSD发生率无相关性(P＞0.05);③PSD的发生率和严重程度与神经功能缺损和日常生活能力下降程度有关.④PSD与病变部位、病灶大小、病灶单侧性均无明显相关(P＞0.05);⑤氟西汀抗抑郁治疗能明显改善病程3、6个月时的神经功能缺损,病程12月时不仅抑郁症状减轻,日常生活能力改善,神经功能缺损减轻尤为显著.结论:脑卒中后抑郁是急性脑血管病患者常见的长期并发症,并可影响患者功能康复的速度和程度.抗抑郁剂治疗能在抑郁症状明显改善的同时,促进患者日常生活能力和神经功能的恢复.