EEG spectral analysis in Alzheimer's disease and different degenerative dementias.

The EEG was recorded in 25 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 25 patients with non-Alzheimer degenerative dementias (NAD), matched for age and severity of dementia and 50 age- and sex-matched normal subjects. The recordings were made with the subjects at rest with eyes closed (REC) and opened (REO). The data was subjected to spectral analysis and the power was computed in five contiguous 5.

General practitioners facing dementia: are they fully prepared?

We assessed knowledge about Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a sample of Italian general practitioners (GPs). We first carried out a propedeutic study to verify the ability of an Italian version of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's AD Knowledge Test for Health Professionals to distinguish between 20 AD specialists and 20 non-specialists and to gain reference values. We then administered the test, together with a short questionnaire, to 139 GPs attending an educational programme in November 2000.

A rapid screening method for routine congener-specific analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls in human serum by high-resolution gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection.

A screening method using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in the single ion monitoring (SIM) mode for the routine congener-specific analysis of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in human serum has been developed and validated. A fast procedure incorporating both liquid-liquid and solid-phase extraction was used for clean up and enrichment. Interday and intraday precision and accuracy were assessed for the 12 congeners having dioxin-like activity and PCBs #180 and #170 by analyzing spiked samples on three subsequent days and using (13)C(12)-labelled analogues as internal standards.

Posttraumatic epilepsy risk factors: one-year prospective study after head injury.

Purpose: Prospective evaluation of risk factors for posttraumatic epilepsy (PTE) by using clinical, EEG, and brain computed tomography (CT) data in four assessments from the head injury (HI) acute phase to 1 year later; and evaluation of the possible epileptogenic role of hemosiderin as shown by brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: Risk factors for PTE were evaluated by using Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank test, and the Cox model in 137 consecutively enrolled adult inpatients. Percentage differences of patients with brain hyperintense and/or hemosiderin areas shown by MRI 1 year after HI were statistically evaluated by univariate tests considering two subgroups [e.

EEG power spectrum differences in early and late onset forms of Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between some EEG spectral parameters and age of onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: A study on the wakefulness EEG, recorded during eyes closed and open, was carried out on 150 AD patients (NINCDS-ADRDA criteria). Fifty-two normal subjects served as controls.

Hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus linear measurements based on magnetic resonance in Alzheimer's disease.

MRI-based linear measurements of the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus complex (HPC) discriminated 39 subjects with probable Alzheimer's disease, from 15 patients with other dementias and 33 miscellaneous controls without evidence of dementia. The best discriminating parameter was the left height of the HPC at the level of the mammillary bodies, with a sensitivity of 79.49% and a specificity of 68.

Depression after stroke: an investigation through catamnesis.

Background: In the early stage of stroke, depression appears to be linked to certain brain areas. The study evaluated the importance of the side of the lesion in depressed patients 3 years after their first stroke.

Method: Patients who had suffered a stroke and been discharged after rehabilitation were identified by hospital records.

EEG power spectrum typical of vascular dementia in a subgroup of Alzheimer patients.

A statistical comparative study was carried out between two subgroups of patients with dementia, i.e. 22 with Alzheimer's dementia (AD, 44% of the entire Alzheimer group examined) and 36 with vascular dementia (VaD, 97% of the entire vascular group).

An EEG power index (eyes open vs. eyes closed) to differentiate Alzheimer's from vascular dementia and healthy ageing.

EEG differential power patterns between Alzheimer's (AD, 50 patients) and vascular (VaD, 37 patients) dementia and between these two and 36 healthy ageing subjects, were studied in the 6.5-12 Hz band of the ongoing EEG recorded during the rest eyes closed (REC) and eyes open (REO) conditions. From the EEGs (16 electrodes, 10-20 international system except for Fz, Cz, Pz), a 6.

Axillary neuropathy in volleyball players: report of two cases and literature review.

Two cases of isolated neuropathy, not consequent to acute trauma, of the axillary nerve of young volleyball players are described. Interest in the pathology derives from the rarity of such case reports and the fact that the pathogenesis may be linked to a specific sporting activity. The lesion site is thought to be in the quadrilateral space.

Electrically evoked long-latency responses in human forearm, arm and shoulder muscles.

Little is known about electrically evoked long-latency responses (LLR) in muscles other than hand muscles. We obtained LLR in forearm, arm and shoulder muscles by ipsilateral homonymous and heteronymous mixed and pure cutaneous electrical stimulation of the median or ulnar nerve in healthy subjects and in patients with focal unilateral Central Nervous System lesions. Our results point out the important role played by hand afferents in the sensorimotor coordination of multiarticulate upper limb movements.

EEG spectral analysis in vascular and Alzheimer dementia.

The role of EEG spectral analysis in the diagnosis of syndromes of dementia is still disputed. Since there have been few studies dealing with the profile of power spectra, the present investigation has focused on this aspect, constructing power spectra taken from 16 derivations and calculated by averaging twenty 2 sec epochs, using a serial array of frequencies from 1 to 32 Hz. The spectral analysis of the EEG, recorded under awake resting eyes closed (REC) and open (REO) conditions, was performed in 50 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 37 with vascular dementia (VaD) and 36 elderly controls.

The influence of depression, social activity, and family stress on functional outcome after stroke.

Background And Purpose: This study was designed to assess the quality of life after an active poststroke period of rehabilitation and to investigate the possibility of a return to a working environment for those still of working age.

Methods: The study was conducted on 180 consecutive patients affected by stroke who were hospitalized for the first time and discharged at least 1 year before the study. The group consisted of 65% men and 35% women with a mean age 65.

Acute monophasic focal demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system: longitudinal clinico-neuroradiological study of two patients.

We report the clinical features and laboratory-instrumental findings in two patients with acute monophasic demyelinating disease with focal clinical expression: one case of incomplete cervical transverse myelitis and one of focal supratentorial encephalitis. We describe the clinical course and evolution of the neuroradiological findings (CT and MRI) and discuss their pathological meaning and diagnostic value.

[Epidemiologic study on the effectiveness and safety of dihydroergocristine in impaired memory and behavioral functions in aged humans].

Aim of the study was to assess the activity of dihydroergocristine (DHEC, CAS 17479-19-5) in aged patients with impaired cognitive function. Twenty-five university hospital centres and 250 physicians participated in the study. 2,600 patients (1,104 males and 1,496 females, age range 50-80 years) were admitted to the study.

Autonomic diabetic neuropathy: skin sympathetic response and neurovegetative cardiovascular functionality tests.

One hundred and twelve diabetic patients were submitted to several tests for evaluation of autonomic cardiovascular and sudomotor function. It was found that a patient could be positive to one test and negative to others, thus confirming the presence of sectorial lesions which do not affect the autonomic nervous system uniformly. The parasympathetic system is more frequently and precociously affected than the sympathetic system.

Chronic multifocal demyelinating neuropathy simulating motor neuron disease.

We describe a patient with a chronic acquired predominantly motor polyneuropathy. His clinical picture initially led to a diagnosis of lower motor neuron form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However electrophysiological examination revealed multifocal, prevalently proximal, conduction blocks at sites not prone to compression.

Transcranial Doppler sonography as a diagnostic tool in vascular dementia.

Transcranial Doppler monitoring of the flow velocity at the level of the middle cerebral artery was performed in 40 demented patients, 20 with multi-infarct dementia (MID) and 20 with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT), and in 25 age-matched controls. The following conditions were evaluated: (1) rest; (2) 60 s hyperventilation; (3) longest possible apnea, and (4) 5 min closed-circuit air rebreathing. We also measured: PaCO2 levels at rest and under stimulus conditions; mean flow velocity and pulsatility index (PI) at rest, and percentage velocity variations.

Meningoencephalomyeloradiculoneuritis in one case of Borrelia burgdorferi infection (Lyme disease).

We describe a patient having serologically confirmed Borrelia burgdorferi infection manifesting meningoencephalomyeloradiculoneuritis. The clinical and MRI features suggested a multifocal vascular nervous system involvement. EMG-ENG showed abnormalities consistent with axonal degeneration initially involving the more proximal segments of the lower limb nerves.

[On a case of Fahr's disease].

A case of idiopathic Fahr's disease with interesting clinical and neuroradiological findings is described. The nosological identity and the pathogenetic factors of this complex condition are discussed.

Lumbar myelography with iopamidol: a methodological approach to the investigation of side effects.

Pathophysiology of adverse reactions occurring during myelography with non-ionic contrast agents, such as iopamidol, seem related to their direct action on the nervous system. The authors try a multivariate approach, involving neurophysiological, neuropsychological and neurochemical parameters on a pilot group of twelve subjects. Any possible change in the above examinations is thoroughly analyzed and correlated to the postulated neurotoxic properties of contrast media.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Morphological study of erythrocytes after treatment with L-alpha-lysophosphatidyl-choline in dystrophic patients and in the carrier state.

The percentage of echinocytes in the blood from patients affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy, in mothers carriers of the dystrophic state, and in Steinert dystrophic patients, has been investigated after addition of low levels of lysolecithin. The echinocyte content was significantly higher in both Duchenne patients and in carriers, and lower in Steinert patients than in controls. The extents of the differences suggest the possibility to use this methodology as a diagnostic test in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.