The need for a revival of psychoanalytic investigations into premature ejaculation

Although psychoanalysis was the first-choice treatment for premature ejaculation (PE) between 1920 and 1960, hardly any reports on its efficacy have been published. Moreover, a scientific debate about its findings has never been fully developed. The recent progress that has been made in the classification of three different PE syndromes creates a new opportunity for psychoanalytic investigations of men with complaints of PE, distinguished by the actual duration of their intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT). The term premature-like ejaculatory dysfunction has been introduced to distinguish men with self-perceived PE at normal and long IELT durations from those men with lifelong, acquired and normal variable PE. Psychoanalytic research may contribute to a better understanding of the consequences of objective early ejaculations on the unconscious mental life of men with the four forms of PE. By integrating neurobiological, clinical and epidemiological data of ejaculatory performance, a revival of psychoanalytic research of PE in the four distinct, classified PE groups, will probably contribute to a deeper insight in to the unconscious mental life of men affected by PE.     

The effect of nadroparine on coagulation mechanisms: ultrastructural analysis.

Low molecular weight heparins are widely used in the prophylaxis and treatment of thrombotic disorders. The effect of low molecular weight heparins on coagulation was examined ultrastructurally in an animal model. A test and a control group was formed, each consisting of five rabbits. Nadroparine (225 Institute of Chaoy Unit/kg twice daily) was applied to the test group for 10 days. The control group received 1 ml saline solution subcutaneously. Blood and vascular tissue samples collected at the end of the 10th day were evaluated under a JEM 100 B electron microscope. Platelet degranulation and agglutination was observed in the control group. Fibrin materials were detected in the cytoplasms and surroundings of degranulated platelets. Erythrocyte accumulation was remarkable on the vascular endothelium with intact coagulation periods. In the test group, outer membranes of platelets, hyalomere, and granular structures in the granulomeres were detected to be nearly intact. There were rare erythrocytes in the large vascular lumens. The aggregation phase had occurred but no agglutination was detected. Nadroparine seems to preserve consistency of lipoprotein membranes of platelets and granular structures containing enzymes, which contribute to the coagulation mechanisms.     

Case Report: Second case of a successful pregnancy in maternal isovaleric acidaemia

Summary: A female patient with isovaleric acidaemia had a successful outcome from pregnancy.     

A rapid and reliable procedure to localize subdural electrodes in presurgical evaluation of patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a novel method for localization of subdural electrodes in presurgical assessment of patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy. METHODS: We studied eight consecutive patients with posterior epilepsy in whom subdural electrodes were implanted for presurgical evaluation. Electrodes were detected on post-implantation brain CT scans through a semiautomated procedure based on a MATLAB routine. Then, post-implantation CT scans were fused with pre-implantation MRI to localize the electrodes in relation to the underlying cortical structures. The reliability of this procedure was tested by comparing 3D-rendered MR images of the electrodes with electrode position as determined by intraoperative digital photography. RESULTS: In each patient, all electrodes could be correctly localized and visualized in a stereotactic space, thus allowing optimal surgery planning. The agreement between the procedure-generated images and the digital photographs was good according to two independent raters. The mean mismatch between the 3D images and the photographs was 2 mm. CONCLUSIONS: While our findings need confirmation on larger samples including patients with anterior epilepsy, this procedure allowed to localize subdural electrodes and to establish the spatial relationship of each electrode to the underlying brain structure, either normal or damaged, on brain convessity, basal and medial cortex. SIGNIFICANCE: Being simple, rapid, unexpensive, and reliable, this procedure holds promise to be useful to optimize epilepsy surgery planning.     

Abnormal spinal interactions from hand afferents to forearm muscles in writer's cramp.

OBJECTIVE: Spinal reflexes from hand to wrist muscles were investigated in writer's cramp. METHODS: Stimulus-triggered rectified EMG averages after ulnar nerve and cutaneous stimulation, in wrist flexors and extensors during tonic contraction, were compared in 18 controls and 19 patients. RESULTS: On the patient dystonic side, ulnar-induced EMG suppression was decreased in wrist extensors, and facilitation in wrist flexors modified dependent on the dystonic wrist posture during writing. No change was found on the patient non-dystonic side. Cutaneous stimulation increased wrist flexor EMG on both sides of the patients with normal wrist posture during writing, but had no effect in controls and patients with abnormal wrist posture. CONCLUSIONS: Comparison between cutaneous and mixed nerve stimuli suggests that spindle afferents from intrinsic hand muscles may mediate patients' ulnar-induced EMG modulations. Abnormal proprioceptive control was only observed on dystonic side, while bilateral unusual cutaneous control was found in patients. Changes in spinal transmission were partly related to the dystonic wrist posture, suggesting that systems involved in sensory processing can be differentially altered in writer's cramp. SIGNIFICANCE: Changes in spinal transmission, probably related to peripheral and/or cortical inputs, might either take part in primary or adaptive mechanisms underlying writer's cramp.