Management of Pediatric Migraine Headache in the Emergency Room and Infusion Center

Migraine is a common disorder that starts at an early age and takes a variable pattern from intermittent to chronic headache with several exacerbations throughout a lifetime. Children and adolescents are significantly affected. If an acute headache is not aborted by outpatient migraine therapy, it often causes severe disability, preventing the child from attending school and social events. Treating the acute severe headache aggressively helps prevent prolonged disability as well as possible chronification. Multiple medications are available, mostly for the outpatient management of an attack and include the use of over‐the‐counter anti‐inflammatory medications as well as prescribed medications in the triptan group. These therapies do sometime fail and the exacerbation can last from days to weeks. If the headache lasts 72 hours or longer it will fall in the category of status migrainosus. Status migrainosus is described as a severe disabling headache lasting 72 hours or more by the ICHD3 criteria. Disability is a major issue in children and adolescents and aggressive acute measures are to be taken to control it as soon as possible. Early aggressive intravenous therapy can be very effective in breaking the attack and allowing the child to be quickly back to normal functioning. This article reviews what is available for the treatment of pediatric primary headaches in the emergency room.     

依托咪酯语言及记忆评估的Wada试验在癫痫外科运动、语言和记忆评估中的初步应用

目的 依托咪酯语言及记忆评估的Wada试验(etomidate speech and memory-Wada testing, eSAM-Wada)在我国还未见相关报道,而血管超选下eSAM-Wada试验国内外还未见报道。探讨eSAM-Wada试验的安全性及其对运动、语言和记忆功能评估的效果。 方法 本文通过回顾性分析我中心5例行eSAM-Wada试验的难治性癫痫患者,观察操作过程中患者运动、语言及记忆功能的改变和术中的不良反应。结果：5例患者均可完成整个评估流程,智商偏低的患者仍可配合完成。2例患者完成血管超选下的eSAM-Wada试验。3例左利手患者中,2例(66.7%)语言优势侧仍位于左侧半球,2例(100%)右利手患者语言优势侧均位于左侧半球。4例左侧半球病变的患者,2例(50%)记忆的优势侧仍位于左侧颞叶,1例(25%)记忆为双侧优势,1例(25%)记忆优势侧转移至右侧颞叶。2例患者进行了后续切除性手术,1例患者进行了立体定向脑电图电极引导下热凝毁损术,1例患者出现左下肢一过性无力,运动、语言及记忆功能改变均与eSAM-Wada试验预测结果相符。2例患者(40%)出现癫痫发作可能与操作流程中依托咪酯静脉推注给药速度过快有关,后给药速度改为>30秒后,患者再无癫痫发作。不良反应需要进一步观察。结论：eSAM-Wada试验是全面评估运动、语言及记忆评估较为可靠且相对安全的方法。与血管超选技术结合,可以更加有效的指导涉及功能区的颅脑外科手术治疗。由于病例数量有限,结论尚需进一步观察。     

李建强针灸治疗顽固性失眠经验

顽固性失眠是临床常见病、多发病,严重影响患者的身心健康。李建强副教授认为人之寐寤由神主导,神安则寐,神动则寤。五脏不和、神不安其脏为顽固性失眠的主要病机;临证善用太冲、内关、三阴交、尺泽、太溪、照海、足三里七穴为基础穴组通调五脏,推广应用焦氏头针血管舒缩区于失眠的治疗中,博采众长,辨证施治,穴简效宏。     

Cognitive correlates of visual hallucinations in non-demented Parkinson's disease patients

BackgroundVisual hallucinations (VH) in Parkinson's disease (PD) are associated with PD dementia and have been related to cognitive impairments in non-demented PD patients. Reports on the specific cognitive domains affected are conflicting. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of specific cognitive impairments in non-demented PD patients with VH, compared to those without VH.MethodsWe compared the clinical characteristics and neuropsychological test scores of 31 non-demented PD patients with VH with those of 31 PD patients without VH that were carefully matched for sex, age, disease duration and educational level. Several non-motor symptoms, including depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances, were also taken into account, as these may influence cognitive performance.ResultsThe PD with VH group performed significantly worse on the Trail Making Test part A (p = 0.01) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, immediate recall (p = 0.01). In addition, PD patients with VH were more anxious, more depressed and reported more sleep disturbances. Verbal learning scores were not associated with levels of anxiety, depression or sleep disruption, whereas worse Trail Making Test A performance was associated with concomitant sleep disturbances.ConclusionsIn non-demented PD patients, the presence of VH is associated with a cognitive profile characterized by impairments in verbal learning and probably attention. Since these cognitive functions are believed to be non-dopaminergic mediated functions, the present results support the hypothesis that multiple neurotransmitter systems, other than dopamine, contribute to the pathophysiology of VH in PD.     

Pleasurable emotional response to music: A case of neurodegenerative generalized auditory agnosia

Recent functional neuroimaging studies implicate the network of mesolimbic structures known to be active in reward processing as the neural substrate of pleasure associated with listening to music. Psychoacoustic and lesion studies suggest that there is a widely distributed cortical network involved in processing discreet musical variables. Here we present the case of a young man with auditory agnosia as the consequence of cortical neurodegeneration who continues to experience pleasure when exposed to music. In a series of musical tasks, the subject was unable to accurately identify any of the perceptual components of music beyond simple pitch discrimination, including musical variables known to impact the perception of affect. The subject subsequently misidentified the musical character of personally familiar tunes presented experimentally, but continued to report that the activity of ‘listening’ to specific musical genres was an emotionally rewarding experience. The implications of this case for the evolving understanding of music perception, music misperception, music memory, and music-associated emotion are discussed.     

Visual hallucinations of autobiographic memory and asomatognosia: a case of epilepsy due to brain cysticercosis

The current study describes the case of a woman with symptomatic epilepsy due to brain cysticercosis acquired during childhood. During her adolescence, she developed seizures characterized by metamorphopsia, hallucinations of autobiographic memory and, finally, asomatognosia. Magnetic brain imaging showed a calcified lesion in the right occipitotemporal cortex, and positron emission tomography imaging confirmed the presence of interictal hypometabolism in two regions: the right parietal cortex and the right lateral and posterior temporal cortex. We discuss the link between these brain areas and the symptoms described under the concepts of epileptogenic lesion, epileptogenic zone, functional deficit zone, and symptomatogenic zone.     

Treatment of epilepsy in China Formal or informal？

Antiepileptic drugs are the preferred treatment approach for epileptic patients. However, informal treatment is important for intractable epilepsy. In this study, 500 epileptic patients were recruited from the General Hospital of Beijing Military Area Command of Chinese PLA during the period of October 2009 to January 2012. These involved patients that had been medically treated for at least 1 year. Information on the initial treatment and changes to treatment regimens for each patient was collected through questionnaires. The survey results showed that 52.3% of the epileptic patients searched for treatment after the first seizure, and the mean numbers of seizures was 12.8; 59.8% of the epileptic patients were diagnosed at the first visit, and the mean onset time was 17 months after the first seizure. After diagnosis, patients were treated for an average of 20 days, and the median time was 1 day. Formal anti-epileptic drugs were selected as the first treatment regimen by 67.8% of patients, and 77.5% of these drugs were monotherapies. The mean and median numbers of seizure were respectively 36.9 and 3.0 times before the first regimen was changed. The regimen was changed within the first 6 months by 46.6% of patients, and after the first and second years of treatment, the proportions increased to 54.0% and 71.8%, respectively. In total, 78.5% of the regi- mens were changed to informal treatments. The informal treatment of epilepsy in China is common, being initiated by either patients or physicians. Enhancing epileptic treatment services in hospital, improving physicians＇ professional quality, and strengthening health propaganda may promote the normalization of drug treatment of epilepsy in China.     

Chronic idiopathic orofacial pain. A long‐term follow‐up study

Patients suffering facial pain that does not fit with the traditional diagnostic criteria and which does not respond to dental treatment constitute a clinical problem. These patients lack a proper diagnosis and are frequently exposed to excessive and inadequate invasive treatment. The aim of this investigation was to study the long‐term development of pain and the result of treatment in a cohort of patients suffering chronic idiopathic facial pain. The 74 patients referred to the Facial Pain Diagnostic Group at the Karolinska Institute School of Dentistry between 1981 and 1992 were invited to take part in a follow‐up study. As 16 subjects were unwilling or unable to take part in the study and 13 had died, the remaining 45 were interviewed either in accordance with a standard protocol or by filling out a questionnaire mailed to them. The interview revealed that 10 were free of orofacial pain, but only 2 were totally free of pain. Over the 9–19 years' follow‐up period the relationship between facial pain and pain in the rest of the body had changed substantially. Of 14 patients and more than 100 extractions, permanent pain relief was felt by only 3 patients. It is concluded that a diagnosis was given in only 2 cases. The distribution of the pain has changed dramatically. The low success rate of invasive treatments suggests that such therapeutic methods are to be considered contraindicated in patients suffering from idiopathic orofacial pain.     

经颈内动脉注射异丙酚行Wada试验的初步研究

目的对难以进行功能磁共振(fMRI)检查的难治性癫痫患者采用异丙酚进行Wada试验,探讨其测定语言优势半球及双侧半球的运动及记忆功能的安全性和有效性。方法首先常规记录脑电图(EEG)30 min,并持续进行监测;之后经股动脉插管至颈内动脉,行全脑血管数字减影(DSA)检查;然后在心电及血压监护下,向患侧颈内动脉以弹丸方式快速注射一定剂量的异丙酚,使对侧上肢肌力保持在3级以下,并进行标准化的语言及记忆功能测定;30 min后,经股动脉插管另一侧颈内动脉,以同样方式进行测定。结果共12例患者,2例为癫痫性脑病,10例为局灶性症状性癫痫。1例因DSA造影发现双侧大脑后交通动脉明显开放而中止Wada试验,其余11例均进行了Wada试验。在11例患者中,7例在注射异丙酚后出现不同程度的一过性不良反应,10例患者最终接受手术治疗,经随访术后均未出现明显的神经功能受损。结论经股动脉插管至颈内动脉,行脑血管DSA,之后采用弹丸注射方式给予异丙酚进行Wada试验,可以安全有效地对大脑半球的运动、语言及记忆功能进行测定。