Bulletin of the Los Angeles neurological societies最新文献

There have been many reports in the literature of an association of the opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome and occult neuroblastoma in children. This syndrome is of interest due to the fact that it appears to be a neurological manifestation of an occult carcinoma (without a metastasis to the CNS). This paper examines pathologic, diagnostic, and etiologic issues concerning this syndrome as well as discussing the functional implications of cerebellar lesions associated with it and how those lesions may produce the symptoms observed.

It is estimated that there will be 5,000 new spinal cord injured patients each year. Prolonged survival has resulted from better understanding of the pathophysiology of cord damage, as well as from the advances in antibiotic and ventilatory therapy. Most well-motivated patients with lesions at or below C5 can attain a level of independence which obviates institutional care. Regional spinal injury centers have done much to increase the survival of and quality of life of cord injured patients. These realities make initial care of patients with acute traumatic lesions of the cervical spine of paramount importance. Neurologic function at both the nerve root and cord levels can be adversely affected by excessive motion of the unstable spine. Early evaluation of X-rays must therefore be carried out in an attempt to determine the stability of the spine.

A 38-year-old Caucasian male died following complications of a myocardial infarct. He had been obese and reportedly hyperphagic. At autopsy an 8-cm-in-diameter suprasellar epidermoid cyst was discovered to have destroyed much of his frontal lobe tissue. The histogenesis and classification of this large, clinically unsuspected lesion are discussed.

Cerebral cysticercosis (CC) is a common cause of seizures and other central nervous system disorders in the Mexican-American population. The elevation of serum IgE in many parasitic diseases led us to study CSF and serum IgE in patients with CC diagnosed by pathologic, radiologic or clinical criteria. A paper disc radioimmunoassay, sensitive to 0.01 IU/ml, was used to measure CSF and serum IgE in 69 patients. The mean CSF IgE level in Mexicans with CC was 0.44 IU/ml compared to 0.28 IU/ml in Mexicans without CC and 0.07 IU/ml in non-Mexicans without CC.

Extracranial to intracranial (EC/IC) microvascular bypass grafts are being performed with increasing frequency for the treatment of cerebral ischemia due to "inaccessible" cerebrovascular disease including carotid artery occlusion and middle cerebral artery occlusion and stenosis. Patency rates, complications, and indications for superficial temporal to middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass are discussed. EC/IC bypasses can reduce or completely arrest TIAs in selected patients. The long term effect on stroke protection of a functioning STA-MCA bypass is now the subject of multinational controlled investigation.

This paper presents a review of the principal cardiovascular conditions which are associated with or cause certain neurological lesions. Included are conditions such as rheumatic and coronary heart disease, bacterial and non-bacterial endocarditis, dissecting aneurysm of the aorta, cardiac arrhythmias, hypertension, congenital heart disease, mitral valve prolapse, and carotid sinus hypersensitivity. The purpose of the review is to call attention to the neurological complications which may confront the physician in treating the patient who presents with any of the entities listed above, and to indicate the type of management which is currently favored for the complications.