Event-related potential correlates of functional hearing loss: Reduced P3 amplitude with preserved Nl and N2 components in a unilateral case

Abstract A female patient exhibiting functional hearing loss in her left ear demonstrated reduced amplitude of P3 component in event-related potentials (ERP) to left monaural stimulation, with preserved N1 and N2 components to stimulation of either ear. This result suggested that stimuli in the affected ear were conducted successfully up to the auditory cortex but that further processing in higher brain regions was 'repressed'. Event-related potential examination for such hysterical disorders could be useful in clarifying their brain mechanism and offer a useful diagnostic clue to its nature.     

Dietary carnitine intake related to skeletal muscle and plasma carnitine concentrations in adult men and women

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if there was any relationship between dietary carnitine intake and the concentrations of carnitine in skeletal muscle and blood plasma in healthy adult men and women. Subjects (14 men, 14 women, fasted 8 h) reported to the Biodynamics Laboratory where they completed a 24-h diet recall questionnaire. Resting muscle biopsy (vastus lateralis) and blood plasma samples were taken and assayed for free, short-chain, and long-chain acyl carnitine concentrations. Dietary carnitine intake was estimated from data on concentrations in food. There was no significant relationship between either protein or carnitine intake with skeletal muscle carnitine concentrations. There was a significant relationship between both dietary carnitine (r = 0.50) and protein (r = 0.48) intake with blood plasma total acid soluble carnitine concentrations (p less than 0.01) in all subjects.     

Paraneoplastic movement disorder in a patient with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and CRMP-5 autoantibody.

The paraneoplastic autoantibody, collapsin response-mediator protein (CRMP)-5 immunoglobulin G (IgG), is specific for neuronal cytoplasmic CRMP-5, and is usually associated with small-cell lung carcinoma or thymoma. We report on details of a movement disorder that followed anti-B-cell therapy in a patient with lymphoma, and was accompanied by CRMP-5 IgG.     

Rupture of the posterior tibial tendon: CT and surgical findings

Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 42 patients with 49 clinically suspected tears of the posterior tibial tendon. Twenty-eight of the 49 suspected tears were subsequently surgically explored and repaired. Three patterns of tendon abnormalities were recognized on CT scans: type I-intact, hypertrophied, heterogeneous tendon; type II-attenuated tendon; and type III-absence of a portion of a tendon. Types I and II correlated with partial rupture seen during surgery, and type III correlated with complete rupture of the tendon. CT findings were accurate in 96% of the patients who underwent surgery. In four cases (14%), tendon rupture was seen on CT scans, but the extent of the injury was underestimated and the rupture was misclassified. Reactive periostitis of the distal tibia was seen in 71% of diseased tendons and may represent an important factor in the diagnosis of tendon rupture.     

Periocular involvement in cutaneous leishmaniasis

OBJECTIVE: Although cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) occurs mostly in the facial area, periocular involvement accounts for 2-5% of the facial lesions. CL lesions localized in the periocular region can easily be confused with various other diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency of periocular involvement in CL in the Cukurova region of Turkey, as well as the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and methods of treatment of this disease. METHODS: Between December 1998 and December 2004, patients who were diagnosed with CL were evaluated prospectively with respect to periocular involvement. RESULTS: From the 2066 patients evaluated with CL, 2622 lesions were identified. In 59 (2.9%) of these patients, a total of 66 (2.5%) lesions were located in the periocular area. Thirty-two (48.5%) of these lesions were of the papular type, 15 (22.7%) the nodulo-ulcerative type, 10 (15.2%) the plaque type, and nine (13.6%) the nodular type. Dacryocystitis was identified in four patients with periocular involvement. Over the follow-up period, no ocular or periocular deformities or complications developed in these patients. CONCLUSION: Patients suspected of CL should be evaluated and treated early in the course of their disease to prevent any permanent ocular or periocular deformities.