Motor and somatosensory evoked potentials in hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from the arms and legs to transcranial stimulation of the motor cortex and somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) from stimulation of the nerves of the arms and legs, were recorded in 11 patients with hereditary spastic paraplegia. Electrophysiological abnormalities were found to be distributed differently among the systems examined; the longer the pathway, the higher the incidence and severity of impairment. MEPs from the leg were either absent or clearly reduced or prolonged in all patients. Eight patients showed abnormal cortical SSEPs on stimulation of the leg (absent or reduced responses in four, slowed central conduction velocity in seven), but only two of these patients had abnormal MEPs from the arm (absent responses). Cortical SSEPs on stimulation of the median nerve were reduced in two patients. Mean values of amplitude and central conduction velocity for MEPs and SSEPs from the leg were significantly different between patients and controls. Such differences were not found for either MEPs or SSEPs from the arm. This distribution of abnormalities, which suggests a differential involvement of the spinal pathways, parallels the reported pathological pattern in which degeneration of axons is more common and severe in the motor and sensory fibres supplying the leg.     

Neuropsychological outcomes in children of mothers with epilepsy.

The study investigated the nature of the effects of maternal epilepsy on cognitive performance of the offspring. One hundred fifty-four children of mothers with epilepsy aged 5 to 11 years (study group), along with 130 control children, comparable with respect to IQ, socio-economic status, age, and gender underwent a neuropsychological assessment using subtests from the NEPSY: A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment, tapping attentional, auditory-verbal, visuomotor, fine motor, and memory abilities. The study group scored significantly lower than the controls on measures of attention, memory, and fine-motor function. Deficits were more marked in but not limited to the subset of the study group exposed to maternal medication in utero. Group differences on auditory attention were found only in younger children. Valproate-exposed children obtained lower scores on sentence repetition, as well as on the more demanding part of a test of auditory attention, than other children in the study group, suggesting weaknesses in working memory in the former subgroup. Confounding by maternal epilepsy type and polytherapy complicate interpretation of this finding. Differences between subsets of children not exposed to anti-epileptic drugs in utero and controls suggest that both drug exposure and genetic factors may contribute to cognitive deficits associated with maternal epilepsy.     

Some digenetic trematodes of the olive ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea (Testudines, Cheloniidae) in Costa Rica

Summary Three species of digeneans including 1 Gorgoderidae (Plesiochorus cymbiformis) from the urinary bladder, 1 Plagiorchiidae (Enodiotrema megachondrus) from the duodenum, and 1 Pachypsolidae (Pachypsolus irroratus) from the stomach were recovered from 2 of 3 olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) found stranded along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. All trematodes represent new locality records. Histopathological changes associated with eggs of cardiovascular flukes (Digenea, Spirorchiidae) were described from the lungs, spleen, and intestine of a single turtle.     

Immunomodulatory effects of two extracts of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer

The effect of Panax ginseng extracts on cell-mediated immune functions in man has been investigated. Three groups, each consisting of twenty healthy volunteers, were treated under conditions of double blindness with capsules containing lactose (Control Group B), with capsules containing 100 mg of aqueous extract of the drug (Group A), and with capsules containing 100 mg of standardized extract of the drug (Group C). All the patients took one capsule every 12 h for 8 weeks. Blood samples were withdrawn before beginning the treatment, at the fourth week and at the eighth week. The immune parameters examined were the following: chemotaxis of PMNs, phagocytosis index (PHI), phagocytosis fraction (PHF), intracellular killing, total lymphocytes (T3), T helper (T4) subset, suppressor cells (T8) subset, blastogenesis of circulating lymphocytes, natural killer-cell activity (NK). Chemotaxis proved to be enhanced (p less than 0.05) already at the fourth week in Group A as well as in Group C; the increase became even more marked (p less than 0.001) at the eight week in subjects belonging to Group C. PHI and PHF proved to be enhanced (p less than 0.05) at the eighth week in subjects of Group A; these increases were found to be higher in subjects of Group C (p less than 0.001) already starting at the fourth week. Intracellular killing was shown to be significantly increased (p less than 0.05) already at the fourth week in Groups A and C; the increase becomes highly significant in both groups (p less than 0.001) at the eighth week; however, a significant increase (p less than 0.05) at the eighth week was also noticed in the placebo group (Group B).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Management of headache in emergency room

Neurological Sciences - Headache is one of the most common symptoms that leads patients to the emergency room (ER) and is often related to diseases requiring prompt diagnosis and immediate...     

Body mass and acute myocardial infarction. GISSI-EFRIM Investigators.

BACKGROUND. The relation between body mass index and acute myocardial infarction was analyzed using data from a multicentric case-control study conducted in Italy between September 1988 and June 1989 within the framework of the GISSI-2 trial. METHODS. Subjects were 916 patients with acute myocardial infarction and no history of cardiovascular disease and 1,106 controls hospitalized for acute conditions not related to known or suspected risk factors for ischaemic heart disease. RESULTS. Relative to the lowest quintile of the Quetelet Index (weight/height2) the estimated risks for subsequent quintiles were 1.2 (95% confidence intervals, (CI): 0.9 to 1.6), 1.7 (95% CI: 1.2 to 2.2), 1.8 (95% CI: 1.4 to 2.4), and 2.2 (95% CI: 1.7 to 3.0) when adjustment was made for age, sex, education, and smoking habits by means of logistic regression. The association was consistent across strata of sex, education, and smoking status, but not age. The estimated risk for subjects in the fifth quintile of the Quetelet Index relative to those in the first was 4.1 under 55 years of age, but only 1.7 between 55 and 64 years and 1.5 above age 65. CONCLUSION. The relation between body mass and myocardial infarction was explained, at least in part, by higher serum cholesterol levels and the prevalence of diabetes and hypertension among fatter subjects. This does not, however, totally eclipse a possible causal relation between body mass and risk of myocardial infarction, since these conditions are a consequence, rather than a confounder, of overweight.     

Genetic variability in the Guahibo population from venezuela

Four communities from Guahibo of Venezuela were analyzed for the genetic variants of nine erythrocyte enzymes and five serum proteins. Of the 14 loci determined, four were monomorphic. Significant frequency differentiation among communities, was present for ESD and TF markers. In general, Guahibo allele frequencies are in the variation ranges described for South American groups. The analysis indicates a relatively higher affinity of Guahibos with other Venezuelan groups within an irregular pattern of genetic distances that are likely related to the complex demographic history of the South American groups. Genetic diversity estimates reveal a moderate degree of genetic structure between the four Guahibo communities. This intra‐tribal variability in Guahibo appears to be lower than in Venezuelan Piaroa but higher than in other Amerindians and could be attributed to a combined effect of low population size and relative isolation of communities. At a continental level, the distribution of genetic diversity is consistent with preferential population movements along the eastern and western coastal areas. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14:21–28, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Is early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes identifiable by electrophysiologic and histologic profile? A comparison with Friedreich's ataxia.

An electrophysiologic and histologic study was performed on 18 patients affected by early onset cerebellar ataxia with retained tendon reflexes (EOCA). Sensory and motor conduction velocity (SCV, MCV) was measured along peripheral nerves in all patients, somatosensory (SSEP) and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) were recorded in 13; cortical stimulation (CS) in 12, and sural nerve biopsy in 4 patients were also performed. The results as a whole allow a division of EOCA patients into 2 groups: with (7 patients) and without (11 patients) peripheral neuropathy. Among EOCA patients with neuropathy a differential diagnosis with Friedreich's disease patients was not possible according to BAEPs and CS, while SSEPs could differentiate 2 out 5 patients in whom they were performed.