Role of nimodipine in the therapy of subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage

Syndromes of intracranial hemorrhage, and particularly subarachnoidal, i.e., intracerebral hemorrhage (SAH and IH) present clinical entities that are the most severe conditions in neurology. Timely recognition, diagnosis and adequate therapy are imperative. The most important factor that aggravates an already difficult prognosis of those entities is cerebral vasospasm. Upon the presented facts, the aim of this investigation was to establish the value and role of administration of selective calcium channel blocker--nimodipine in patients with SAH and IH compared to the degree of neurological and functional impairment, as well as the recovery of the function of consciousness compared to the patients with those syndromes from an earlier period, who were not treated with this medicament. Investigation comprised 30 patients who received nimodipine and 20 patients without this agent in therapeutic program. Results of the investigation confirmed significant difference concerning the neurological recovery, improvement of functional capability and recovery or consciousness disturbances, respectively, in patients who received nimodipine compared to the group without this agent. It can be concluded that nimodipine as calcium channel blocker with multitopic pharmacological effects on mechanism of SAH or IH development, respectively, as well as on the development of complications of those syndromes, particularly to the development of vasospasm and reactive ischemia, with the improvement of hemorrheologic disorders deserves to be included as the unavoidable segment of therapeutic program of SAH and IH syndrome immediately after clinical phenomenology is revealed.     

Secondary neurosurgical management of craniocerebral war injuries

In Belgrade Military Medical Academy 88 males and 1 female (aged 13-55, average 28.6 years) with war craniocerebral injuries (CCI) were secondarily neurosurgically treated from October 1991 trough December 1992. Primary neurosurgical management of these patients was performed in war hospitals in former Yugoslavia. Out of 89 patients, 78 had penetrating, and 11 closed CCI. Out of 55 patients with penetrating CCI who underwent surgery, intracranial debridement was performed in 34 patients. All patients with severe CCI (GCS = 3-8) were severely by disabled or died, and in the majority of patients with minor CCI (GCS = 13-15) the outcome was good (p < 0.01). Statistical analysis showed no significant correlation between the extent of cerebral lesion and the outcome of penetrating CCI (p > 0.05). Eight (10.3%) patients with penetrating CCI died. The outcome of war CCI mostly depended on the severity of injury.     

The effect of cell phones on pacemaker function

The aim of the study was to examine if there existed a risk from interference of cellular phones on patients with implanted permanent pacemakers. The study comprised 144 patients (134 VVI/VVIR and 10 DDD/DDDR) with permanent pacemakers of different manufactures. METHODS: During the routine pacemaker check, cellular phone aerial (Nokia 1610; GSM Standard) was placed against the skin of patients above the spot of pacemaker implantation, while the phone calls were repeated and ECG was continuously monitored. The effect of cellular phone on pacemaker was established upon: a) preexisting parameters of electric pacemaker stimulation; b) minimal ventricular rate of 90 beats/min, while electric stimulation parameters were set to their most sensitive values (MSV). RESULTS: Only in 9 (6.25%) patients was observed intermittent pacemaker inhibition, when pacemaker settings were on preexisting values of electric stimulation, while in 17 patients (11.8%) inhibition was noticed, when pacemaker settings were changed to their MSV. Besides, programmed values of electric stimulation in our patients remained unchanged. CONCLUSION: Although the electromagnetic interference interactions of cellular phones on pacemaker function were observed in relatively small number of our patients, we were of the opinion that pacemaker-dependent patients should avoid the use of cellular phones.     

Urticarial vasculitis--a syndrome with low complement levels and secondary glomerulopathy

In female patient, aged 41, 3 years ago appeared skin changes of urticarial type, and occasional pain in the joints of shoulders and hands, followed by complete weakness and exhaustion, as well as the occurrence of face and eyelid edema. Laboratory findings confirmed the presence of hypocomplentemia with proteinuria, microhematuria and cylindruria. Histopathologic (HP) finding of skin biopsy was leukocytoclastic vasculitis, and HP finding of the kidneys was mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis. The regression of skin changes was observed during hospitalization after Dapsone was administered. The therapy started with corticosteroids (Prednisone 40 mg/day with weekly dose from 5 mg to 30 mg). In spite of the therapy, hypocomplementemia and proteinuria up to 335 mg/24 h have maintained for a year in the later controls in an outpatient department. The patient is without discomfort, and renal function is stable.     

Cortical potentials related to decision-making: comparison of two types of go/no-go decision

The S1-S2 go/no-go reaction time task has been frequently used to assess volitional inhibition. In this study our aim was to compare the ERPs elicited by S1 and S2 by using a modified S1-S2 paradigm which involved a two-stage go/no-go decision. The go and the no-go S1 ERPs did not differ substantially, and both displayed a prominent negativity with peaks at 260 ms (S1N260) and at 330 ms (S1N330) post-S1. The S1N260 was similar to the N2 from no-go S2 trials. Since after all three types of stimuli, movement is not required and is inappropriate, this negativity may represent the correlate of the voluntary decision to suppress movement. Later, the S1 ERPs were dominated by frontal negativity (S1N330), probably reflecting further processes related to response preparation, while the S2 ERPs displayed a large central and parietal positivity (P3), probably reflecting the processes of evaluation of response accuracy.