Acta neurologica最新文献

For many years, the human brain was considered relatively resistant to therapeutic doses of radiation. With the increasing length of survival of patients irradiated for brain tumors, there have been reported long-term effects of radiation therapy due to inappropriate dosage, period of delivery, fractionation or field. Thus, randomized studies are needed both to optimize the radiation therapy technique than to integrate new therapeutic modalities into the management of patients with primary brain tumors.

The coexistence of Atrial Natriuretic Factor (ANF) and Angiotensin II (Ang II) receptors in the subfornical organ suggested that ANF may influence the action of Ang II at this level. To test this hypothesis the effect of ANF pre injected into subfornical organ (SFO) on Ang II-induced vasopressin release was investigated in rats. ANF blunted vasopressin release elicited by circulating Ang II. This study indicates SFO as one of the main sites at which ANF-Ang II interactions occur.

Vocabulary deficits in multiple sclerosis patients do not fit to the concept of subcortical dementia usually applied to describe cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. In a screening of young patients with a vocabulary test a significant correlation was found between the age at the onset of symptoms and the score in this test. This may lead to an explanation of vocabulary deficits recently described as results of a slowed language acquisition caused by subcortical lesions in early multiple sclerosis.

A case of type I Arnold-Chiari malformation, with onset of diplopia, without associated medullar alteration, is presented. The symptomatology remained unique and had transitory presentation for many years with negative ophthalmic examinations. Attention is drawn to the great variability of the syndrome's presenting symptoms confirming the importance of MR in the diagnostic course and of evoked potentials of the brain stem to follow progress of the illness.

Studies were carried out in the rat to investigate whether glutamic acid is involved in the regulation of vasopressin (VP) release. For this purpose plasma VP levels were measured in rats treated with the glutamate agonist N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA). In our experimental conditions NMDA induced dose-related increases in plasma VP levels in normohydrated rats. The effect of NMDA were prevented by 3[(+)-2 carboxy-piperazine-4-yl]propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP), a selective and competitive antagonist of NMDA receptors. These data show that glutamate may contribute to the physiological release of VP from the neurohypophysis.

We present SPECT, electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of a homogeneous group of 12 young adults with rare focal seizures and a good response to carbamazepine. Our data suggest that the alterations of the rCBF are independent of severity and duration of the epilepsy and of the frequency of seizures. Based on our experimental data, it may be suggested that complex partial epilepsy is a good biological model to investigate the neurogenic control of cerebral flow and metabolism.

The frequent negativity of neuroradiological changes after neck injury despite the constant complaints (neck pain and stiffness, limited neck movements, arm pains) experienced after a motor vehicle crash has led us to verify the diagnostic and prognostic validity of different neurophysiological tests in these patients. To this aim 120 young patients (67 females and 53 males) referred for a whiplash syndrome aged 18-31 years without neuroradiological abnormalities have been submitted to EMG and BAEP studies immediately after the traffic accident and after six months. Constant slowing of median MNCV and SNCV and ulnar SNCV without changes in morphology, amplitude and duration of MAP and SAP have been observed in 92 patients, with persistent abnormalities in 64 cases after six months. Increase in I-III or I-V interpeak interval of BAEP have been observed unilaterally in 45 patients and bilaterally in 32 ones without changes in absolute latencies and V/I amplitude ratio, with persistence of such abnormalities in 31 and 16 patients respectively after six months. Simultaneous abnormalities of all neurophysiological tests have been observed in 31 patients, with unmodified recordings after six months in 24 patients. The above findings could be accounted for subtle cerebral lesions and a possible damage to brain stem structures as claimed by Ettlin et al. (1992). The usefulness of the above proposed neurophysiological tests in assessment of asymptomatic dysfunction of central motor and sensory pathways in whiplash injuries is discussed.

Recent anatomoclinical and neuroimaging studies have suggested a possible relation between obsessional compulsive disorders (OCD) and some brain damage, such as frontolenticular lesions, basal ganglia cavitations and local glucose metabolism impairment. A poor frontocaudal regulation of the left hemisphere and an autonomic nervous system dysfunction in OCD patients have been supposed. To absess these morphofunctional abnormalities, an electrophysiological approach has been performed in 100 consecutive neurotic patients, screened with various neuropsychological tests and divided in two groups, 50 with OCD and 50 with anxious neurosis (ANX). Patients were submitted to EEG spectral analysis and BAEP studies and comparated with 25 age-matched normal controls. The mean alpha power in occipital regions was significantly higher in OCD patients and reduced in ANX patients. A significant reduction of the beta activity was recorded in frontal regions in both patient groups as compared to controls. A slight (p < 0.11) increase in I-V interpeak latency (IPL) vs. control group was observed in BAEP from left ear. A significant increase of the same IPL in OCD vs. controls (p < 0.025) was observed in BAEP from right ear. A slight n.s. reduction in III wave amplitude in OCD patients was observed in BAEP from left ear, whereas a highly significant reduction in the same wave amplitude from BAEP from right ear was observed in OCD patients. The above findings cold be account for both a frontotemporal and brainstem dysfunction with a probable involvement of serotoninergic central pathways, with a significant impairment of pontine segment in ANX patients and of mesencephalic region in OCD patients.