Neuropsychological findings and psychiatric symptoms in HIV-1 infected and noninfected drug users.

Reports available on the extent and incidence of cognitive deficits in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) patients are variable. To assess the influence of drug abuse and psychiatric symptoms on the extent of the cognitive deficit, we examined 42 drug-addicted HIV-1 patients and compared them with a group of seronegative drug addicts (n = 31) as well as with a group of healthy controls (n = 50), using a psychometric test battery and standardized psychiatric scales. We found no significant difference in the extent and incidence of cognitive deficits in the group of HIV-1 patients as compared with the seronegative drug addicts. Both groups, however, differed from the normal population group. Remarkable depressive symptoms were found in the HIV-1 infected patient group. We assume that long-term drug abuse contributes markedly to the cognitive deficit of HIV-1 patients, which is further influenced by depressive symptoms.     

Entwicklung eines Tibiamarknagels auf der Basis anatomischer Untersuchungen der intraossären Gefäße

The design of the tibial medullary nail can be improved in order to preserve intraosseus vessels by osteosynthesis of the tibia. The nutrient artery of the human tibia enters the compacta in an average height of 33% dorsally and is leaving it in a height of 50% of the tibial length. In the medullary cavity the vessel splits up. The main branch continues the distal course on the dorsal/dorsolateral side of the medullary cavity (endosteal). In the distal diaphysis this endosteal vessel is of great importance, since the periosteal blood supply in this region with high incidence of pseudarthrosis is guaranteed only by branches of the anterior tibial artery. Using a new unreamed tibial nail, which is flattened dorsally, it is possible to preserve the endostal main artery of the tibia.     

Aktuelles medizinrechtliches Schrifttum, Richtlinien und Empfehlungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Aktuelles medizinrechtliches Schrifttum, Richtlinien und Empfehlungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Changes in EEG order in neuroleptically treated normal volunteers during a voluntary movement task

Summary 15 normal volunteers were treated over three weeks with haloperidol (HAL) and in the third week additionally with biperidene (BIP). The order of the EEG spectra at different topographical locations and in different frequency bands during a movement task was analyzed using uncertainty analysis (UA), a multivariate analysis technique based on informationtheoretical methods. Different patterns of drug-induced changes were found. HAL decreases the theta and alpha band order at the fronto-central lateral areas but increases it at the fronto-central midline in the theta band and at the parietal areas in the alpha band. With the exception of the fronto-central midline locations, BIP more or less counterbalances the effect of HAL. Volunteers felt unwell and had motor disturbances during HAL and felt well again during HAL + BIP. Reaction time values were increased during HAL and normalized during HAL + BIP.     

Pericentral retinal dystrophy

A diagnosis of pericentral retinal dystrophy was made in 28 patients from four families, all living in North Norway. Patients from two and three generations were examined, establishing the relatively benign but progressive course of the disease. The advanced stage of pericentral retinal dystrophy could not be differentiated from the advanced stage of 'classical' retinitis pigmentosa. Three families demonstrated an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance. In one family the mode of inheritance probably was autosomal recessive. Fluorescein angiography in the initial stage of the disease was normal, without evidence of pathological changes in the pigment epithelium or choroidal vessels, indicating that the pathological process may start in the photoreceptors.     

Knee complaints in patients with normal arthroscopic findings

Clinical follow-up was obtained in 96 patients with knee complaints but normal arthroscopic findings (mean observation time, 10 months). About one-third had no symptoms at follow-up; in another third there was improvement; in the remaining third there were unchanged or worsened symptoms, and a clinical re-examination indicated that alterations in the soft tissues around the knee might explain the worsening. However, 10 patients in the last group had not only significant worsening of the knee symptoms but also severe complaints in other regions of the body and a psychosomatic factor was suspected. Most of the patients with symptoms at follow-up had significant wasting of the quadriceps muscles. Energetic exercises seem important even in patients with normal arthroscopic findings.