Contribution of ambulatory EEG recording (Medilog 9000) in a population of epileptics

Thirty-four epileptic patients, aged 9 to 36, were submitted to A/EEG between May 1987 and July 1988. All patients had a thorough clinical and EEG work-up including long-term conventional EEG, afternoon polygraphic sleep recording and, in some cases, full-night EEG and video monitoring. Patients were divided into 2 groups: group I included 19 patients (18 with symptomatic partial epilepsy (SPE) and 1 with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) in whom no seizure had ever been recorded in spite of EEG recordings averaging a total of 16 hrs 10 min, awake and asleep); group II included 15 subjects (6 with SPE, 5 with IGE, 3 with symptomatic GE and 1 with undetermined epilepsy) in whom one or several seizures had been recorded. A/EEG was performed in order to: 1) obtain better clinical and EEG characterization of seizures, 2) study the circadian distribution of seizures, 3) verify the efficacy of drug treatment and, 4) establish the epileptic or non-epileptic nature of some ictal events. The results of A/EEG were considered positive in 52.63% of group I patients and in 93.33% of group II patients. The authors discuss the specific advantages of A/EEG vs conventional EEG: recording of seizures with random occurrence, of seizures accompanied by falls, checking the remission of seizures.     

Diabetic retrobulbar optic neuropathy

The authors describe a case of retrobulbar optic neuropathy in a patient with type 1 Diabetes mellitus. In spite of good metabolic control, there has been a slow but progressive functional visual decline. Worthy of note is the abnormal precocity of the appearance of the functional damage of the optic nerve compared to the involvement of the peripheral system.     

A proposed classification of swollen legs

The subject of enlarged legs is vast and complex. Up to now there has been no organic classification of the clinical picture involved. The basic problem is that of the criterion on which to base the classification. Literature on this subject has opted for the pathogenic criterion because it seems to facilitate the formulation of a classification which is of use to the doctor. One possibility would be to divide the syndrome into vascular and non-vascular swollen legs. The first group could in turn be separated into macro-circulating and micro-circulatory. The micro-circulatory forms can be primitive or secondary. Amongst the secondary micro-circulatory forms, two other groups can be singled out: secondary forms with local cause and secondary forms caused by organic pathology. However, there are clinical forms which are on the periphery of these different groups and these forms are subject to discussion regarding nosographic localization.     

A comparison of sensory loss tests and histopathology in the diagnosis of leprosy

Three different sensory loss tests, for anaesthesia to light touch, for diminished pain sensation and for loss of thermosensation, were compared with histopathological examination results in the diagnosis of suspected tuberculoid leprosy in 120 individuals with 126 lesions. Though none of the 3 tests used in this study was found to be strikingly superior to any of the others, the results indicate potentially important differences in their usefulness in different subgroups of suspected patients. The methodological problems inherent in such studies are discussed.     

Death of sensory ganglion neurons after acute withdrawal of nerve growth factor in dissociated cell cultures

The time course of dependence on nerve growth factor (NGF) for survival in sensory neurons in vitro was examined with microscopic and biochemical methods. Primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cultures from embryonic-day-15 (E-15) and day-19 (E-19) rats were maintained with standard dissociated cell culture techniques in the absence of most non-neuronal cells. After various times in culture, neurons were acutely deprived of neurotrophic support by changing to NGF-free medium and adding NGF antiserum to eliminate any residual NGF. Neuronal cultures were examined with phase microscopy; and, their metabolic activity was measured with a protein assay at various time points after NGF deprivation. E-15 neurons grown in culture for 5 days were exquisitely sensitive to acute NGF deprivation. By 12 h after NGF deprivation, neuronal morphology was severely disrupted and the majority of neurons appeared dead. E-15 neurons grown in culture for 8 or 11 days showed progressively less dependence on NGF for survival. These older neurons did not die until 24 and 48 h, respectively, following NGF withdrawal. Neurons grown in culture for 20 days did not show any morphologic changes by phase microscopy up to 4 days after NGF deprivation. Protein incorporation progressively decreased between 12 and 48 h after NGF withdrawal in E-15 neurons grown in culture for 5, 8, or 11 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)