A nationwide survey of excessive daytime sleepiness in Parkinson's disease in France

To determine the prevalence of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and that of dozing and sudden onset of sleep episodes (SOS) while driving in ambulatory patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) in France, a national sample of private and public neurologists was asked to recruit the first 10 consecutive nondemented PD patients. Each patient completed a questionnaire including the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the likelihood of dozing off and experiencing SOS episodes behind the wheel. Clinical and demographic data were collected. One thousand six hundred and twenty‐five patients with PD were included in the survey. Twenty‐nine percent of the patients suffered from EDS (ESS score ≥10) but only 0.8% declared a high chance of dozing while driving and 0.5% reported totally unpredictable SOS episodes while driving. Risk factors for EDS were male gender, reduced activity of daily living, and a high daily levodopa equivalent dosage. Risk factors for SOS episodes while driving were an ESS score ≥10, male gender, and low Hoehn and Yahr staging. EDS is common in ambulatory patients with PD and is a major risk factor for dozing and for SOS episodes behind the wheel in patients who drive. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society     

腺性膀胱炎三种治疗方法治疗效果的随访观察

目的　比较腺性膀胱炎三种治疗方法的效果。方法　 86例腺性膀胱炎患者分别行膀胱药物灌注、经尿道电切、经尿道电切加膀胱药物灌注治疗。随访观察症状缓解程度和膀胱镜病检结果 1年。结果　 73例完成了随访调查 ,占 84.9%。三种方法治疗后症状缓解程度 ,差异无显著性意义 (P >0 .0 5 ) ;膀胱镜病检复查 ,灌注治疗效果好于电切治疗效果 ,综合治疗效果好于电切治疗效果 ,差异具有显著性意义 ;比较灌注治疗后膀胱镜病检阴性例数 ( 2 2 /2 8)与综合治疗后膀胱镜病检阴性例数 ( 3 0 /3 4) ,差异无显著性意义 ( χ2 =1.0 60 ,P =0 .3 0 3 )。结论　膀胱药物灌注和经尿道电切加膀胱药物灌注的膀胱镜病检复查 ,效果好于电切治疗的效果。     

Identifying the affected hemisphere by 1H-MR spectroscopy in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and no pathological findings in high resolution MRI

Up to 30% of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) remain without remarkable changes in MRI. In this study we investigated the role of (1)H-MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) in lateralizing the affected hemisphere in the mentioned patient group. Twenty-two consecutive patients diagnosed with TLE were investigated by high resolution MRI and (1)H-MRS. We examined the incidence and diagnostic accuracy of temporal metabolite alterations determined by Linear Combination of Model Spectra (L C Model) via water reference. Metabolite values of each hemisphere of TLE patients were compared with healthy controls. Results of metabolite alterations were related to intensive video EEG focus localization. Reduction of N-acetylaspartate + N-acetylaspartyl-glutamate (tNAA) in the affected hemisphere revealed identification in six of nine patients (66%) with unilateral TLE. Group comparison revealed a significant reduction of tNAA (6.1+/-0.8*) in the involved temporal lobe compared with controls (6.67+/-0.4*, P=0.026). Choline levels were significantly increased in the affected hemisphere (1.42+/-0.17*) compared with healthy controls (1.22+/-0.17*, P=0.035). The results of our study show that (1)H-MRS is able to identify the affected hemisphere of MRI negative TLE patients and can be used as an additive tool in multimodal focus localization.     

一种新的单侧听觉气传导持续阻滞大鼠模型

用外耳道外沿皮下缝合法制备了一种新的单侧听觉气传导持续阻滞大鼠模型。它具有制作简便、损伤较小、效果持续的优点。     

Intrauterine position affects motoneuron number and muscle size in a sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system

The intrauterine position occupied by a rodent fetus influences the amount of testosterone to which it is exposed before birth. Animals that are gestated between two male fetuses (2M) are exposed to higher circulating levels of testosterone than are animals positioned between two female fetuses (2F) and there are reliable differences in the reproductive physiology and behavior of 2M and 2F animals when adult. To determine whether intrauterine position modifies development of the central nervous system, we examined the sexually dimorphic spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) in male and female gerbils from known intrauterine positions. We found that adult 2M female gerbils had 16% more SNB motoneurons than did 2F females. 2M males did not differ from 2F males in SNB motoneuron number, but the bulbocavernosus muscle, which is innervated by SNB motoneurons, was approximately 50% larger in 2M than in 2F males. These data indicate that intrauterine position can influence the morphology of the sexually dimorphic SNB neuromuscular system.     

Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus with antiphospholipid syndrome

We report the case of a 44-year-old male with a 10-year history of manifestations of the rare form of bullous systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with coexisting antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) that remained undiagnosed until thrombotic-embolic episodes appeared and high titres of anticardiolipin (ACL) antibodies were detected. The patient fulfilled the criteria for SLE and the atypical cutaneous manifestations together with histopathological changes and a favourable response to sulphones were the grounds for the diagnosis of the bullous variety of SLE. Treatment with prednisolone, acenocoumarol and dapsone resulted in marked clinical improvement, reduction in antinuclear antibodies (ANAs) and normalization of ACL antibody titres.     

Nerve conduction as a means of estimating early post-mortem interval

Summary Methods in current practice for ascertaining time of death are largely based on the cooling of the body after death and are somewhat unreliable. A theoretica relationship is known to exist between the decline in the properties defining nerve conduction and time after death caused by the gradual cessation of metabolic activity in nerves. A number of such properties were measured in rats during life and after death. In most cases the relationship was found to be inconsistent. The chronaxie of the strength duration curve for the sciatic nerve was, however, found to increase consistently and reproducibly in a linear fashion over the first 90 min after death to a plateau value which was maintained beyond 135 min. These findings are discussed as the possible basis of a forensic method of determining the duration of the “post mortem interval” within the first few hours after death.      

小儿氨基酸注射液治疗胎儿宫内发育迟缓的探讨

经临床鉴定静脉内注射小儿氨基酸对治疗胎儿宫内发育迟缓具有肯定效果。在Ｂ超监视下，使用小儿氨基酸的孕妇组于用药期间，胎儿生长参数ＢＰＤ和ＨＣ显著高于使用成人氨基酸的孕妇组。１０例足月娩出胎儿体重均达到甚至超过２．５ｋｇ。由此得出结论：使用小儿氨基酸注射液对于改善胎儿宫内发育迟缓优于成人氨基酸。     

Recombinant human erythropoietin in the treatment of cancer-related anaemia

Abstract: The efficacy and safety of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) were tested when given subcutaneously (s.c.) in an escalating dose of 2000–10,000 units (U) daily in 60 patients with cancer-related anaemia (CRA). A positive response, defined as an increase in haemoglobin more than 2 g/dl and independence of blood transfusions, was observed in 23 of 48 evaluable patients (48%) within a median of 8 wk. In detail, rhEPO corrected anaemia in 11 of 14 patients (79%) with malignant lymphoma, in 8 of 15 patients (53%) with multiple myeloma and in 4 of 10 patients (40%) with a solid tumour. The median dose of rhEPO in successful cases was 5000 U daily. Four patients with agnogenic myeloid metaplasia and 5 with myelodysplastic disorder failed to respond to rhEPO. No patient had any severe side effects. Pretreatment serum erythropoietin levels appeared to be a weak predictor for response to rhEPO treatment. In conclusion, rhEPO seems to be safe and effective in correcting CRA in certain groups of patients.