Dysexecutive syndrome: diagnostic criteria and validation study.

Objective: Disorders of executive functions are among the most frequent cognitive deficits, but they remain poorly defined and are subject to heterogeneous assessment. To address this major issue, the Groupe de Réflexion sur l'Evaluation des Fonctions Exécutives (GREFEX) group has proposed criteria for behavioral and cognitive dysexecutive syndromes and has designed a battery including a specific heteroquestionnaire and 7 cognitive tests. We investigated the frequency of behavioral and cognitive dysexecutive disorders in patients suffering from various diseases and the association of these disorders with loss of autonomy.

Brain injury and neuropsychological outcome after coronary artery surgery are affected by complement activation.

Background: The impact of the postoperative inflammatory response on the central nervous system after cardiac surgery is uncertain. The goal of the study was to evaluate the role of complement activation on cellular brain injury in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. In addition, neuropsychological functioning was assessed.

[Several factors to distinguish anosognosia from denial after a brain injury].

This Article deals with the question of ignorance after a serious brain injury. The main purpose of this research is to present some factors that are critical for the differential diagnosis of anosognosia (organic etiology) and denial (psychological etiology) in order to improve the rehabilitation strategies of brain injuried population. In the present work we report the case study of MG (Havet-Thomassin, 2000).

[Are calcium channel blockers really useful in cerebral aneurysm surgery?].

Two retrospective series of early operated cerebral arterial aneurysms are compared. One series involves 74 patients treated from 1983 to 1987 by vascular volume expansion only. The other series involves 75 patients treated from 1987 to 1990 by vascular volume expansion associated by calcium antagonists (nimodipine or nicardipine).