Psychosocial and cognitive rehabilitation of patients with solvent-induced chronic toxic encephalopathy: a randomised controlled study.

Background: There is little experience with the (neuro) psychological treatment of patients with solvent-induced chronic toxic encephalopathy (CSE). In this randomised controlled trial (RCT), a treatment programme was evaluated based on previous outcome studies of patients with chronic fatigue, whiplash and traumatic brain damage.

Methods: The treatment consisted of 8 group sessions based on cognitive behavioural principles focusing on inadequate illness behaviours, and 8 sessions of cognitive strategy training to compensate memory problems.

The course of apraxia and ADL functioning in left hemisphere stroke patients treated in rehabilitation centres and nursing homes.

Objective: To study the course of apraxia and daily life functioning (ADL) in left hemisphere stroke patients with apraxia.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Rehabilitation centres and nursing homes.

Discomfort and factual recollection in intensive care unit patients.

Introduction: A stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), although potentially life-saving, may cause considerable discomfort to patients. However, retrospective assessment of discomfort is difficult because recollection of stressful events may be impaired by sedation and severe illness during the ICU stay. This study addresses the following questions.

Psychological treatment of patients with chronic toxic encephalopathy: lessons from studies of chronic fatigue and whiplash.

Background: Chronic toxic encephalopathy (CTE), which can result from long-term exposure to organic solvents, is characterized by problems of attention and memory, fatigue and affective symptoms. There is little experience with (neuro)psychological treatment in this patient group. We reviewed treatment outcome studies of CTE and comparable syndromes, namely, chronic whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), with a view to providing recommendations for the psychological treatment of patients with CTE.

Suboptimal performance on neuropsychological tests in patients with suspected chronic toxic encephalopathy.

Suboptimal performance during neuropsychological testing can seriously complicate assessment in behavioral neurotoxicology. We present data on the prevalence of suboptimal performance in a group of Dutch patients with suspected chronic toxic encephalopathy (CTE) after long-term occupational exposure to solvents. One hundred and forty-five subjects referred to one of two Dutch national assessment centers for CTE were administered the Amsterdam Short-Term Memory Test (ASTM) and the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), two tests specifically developed for the detection of suboptimal performance.

Subjective changes in emotion, cognition and behaviour after stroke: factors affecting the perception of patients and partners.

The presence and severity of changes in emotion and cognition experienced by left- and right-sided stroke patients and observed by their partners were compared at 3 months poststroke. The results showed that, regardless of the side of stroke, several changes were reported by half of the stroke patients and their partners. It appeared that while left hemisphere stroke patients agreed with their partners on the number and severity of most changes, partners of right hemisphere patients reported more frequent and more severe changes than the patients themselves.

Speed of information processing after unilateral stroke.

Speed of information processing in the subacute stage after stroke was studied in 88 first ever, unilateral, ischemic stroke patients. The patient group included 42 right and 46 left hemisphere patients. Seventy-one control subjects were also examined.

Sensitivity of different ADL measures to apraxia and motor impairments.

Objective: To determine whether specifically designed activities of daily living (ADL) observations can measure disability due to apraxia with more sensitivity than the Barthel ADL Index, a conventional functional scale.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Rehabilitation centres and nursing homes.

No major cognitive impairment in young children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia using chemotherapy only: a prospective longitudinal study.

Purpose: To study, using serial neuropsychological assessment and evaluation of school achievement, persistent neuropsychological late effects in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at a young age with chemotherapy only.

Patients And Methods: Twenty consecutive patients underwent three evaluations, including 12 psychometric measures beside IQ. The authors applied strict methodology and a prospective-longitudinal design that started at diagnosis and extended to a median follow-up of 7 years.