[Respiratory disturbance during sleep induced by vagus nerve stimulator].

Vagus nerve stimulation can be used in parallel with drug therapy as adjuvant therapy for severe epilepsy. In approximately half of the patients the number of seizures decreases by at least 50%. The most common adverse effects reported for the therapy include mild laryngeal and upper respiratory tract symptoms and dysfunctions, and in some cases, also development of respiratory disturbances during sleep.

Childhood-onset epilepsy five decades later. A prospective population-based cohort study.

Objective: To study the impact of childhood-onset epilepsy on a variety of outcomes across the life span.

Methods: A population-based cohort of 245 subjects with childhood-onset epilepsy was assessed for outcomes at 45 years. In addition, 51 of 78 surviving subjects with uncomplicated epilepsy and 52 of 99 originally matched controls participated in a detailed evaluation including electroencephalography (EEG), imaging, and laboratory studies at 50 years.

Neurological symptoms and natural course of xeroderma pigmentosum.

We have prospectively followed 16 Finnish xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patients for up to 23 years. Seven patients were assigned by complementation analysis to the group XP-A, two patients to the XP-C group and one patient to the XP-G group. Six of the seven XP-A patients had the identical mutation (Arg228Ter) and the seventh patient had a different mutation (G283A).

Focal and global cortical hypometabolism in patients with newly diagnosed infantile spasms.

Objective: To evaluate the occurrence and prognostic importance of focal defects in cerebral cortical glucose metabolism in infants with newly diagnosed symptomatic and cryptogenic infantile spasms.

Patients And Methods: Ten children with symptomatic and seven with cryptogenic infantile spasms underwent MRI, video-EEG, and PET using fluorodeoxyglucose as a tracer within 2 weeks of diagnosis. PET was repeated at 1 year of age in 12 patients.

Resistance to exercise-induced increase in glucose uptake during hyperinsulinemia in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle of patients with type 1 diabetes.

Insulin and exercise have been shown to activate glucose transport at least in part via different signaling pathways. However, it is unknown whether insulin resistance is associated with a defect in the ability of an acute bout of exercise to enhance muscle glucose uptake in vivo. We compared the abilities of insulin and isometric exercise to stimulate muscle blood flow and glucose uptake in 12 men with type 1 diabetes (age 24 +/- 1 years, BMI 23.

Does dialysis therapy improve autonomic and peripheral nervous system abnormalities in chronic uraemia?

Objectives: Autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction and peripheral neuropathy occur in patients with chronic renal insufficiency. Adequate renal replacement therapy should prevent development or correct these abnormalities.

Design And Subjects: We studied retrospectively ANS and peripheral neuropathy in 32 patients with chronic uraemia who received either haemodialysis (16) or peritoneal dialysis (16) therapy, and compared the observed dialysis efficiency with changes in neurological function.

Sleep disorders in patients with severe nasal obstruction due to septal deviation.

The role of nasal obstruction in etiology of the sleep apnea disease is controversial in literature. Forty-six subjects (3 women, 43 men) with severe nasal obstruction due to septal deviation were evaluated. The examination included case history, clinical ORL examination by ENT specialist, rhinomanometry and whole night sleep recording (SCSB, oximetry, EKG).

Distributed clinical neurophysiology.

We have developed a consultation forum for clinical neurophysiology in Finland. The system connects local digital electroencephalography (EEG) recording and analysing networks using a high-speed asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network. Clinicians can obtain a second opinion using interactive data and video consultations or using data-only consultations.

Detection of periodic leg movements with a static-charge-sensitive bed.

We evaluated the performance of the static-charge-sensitive bed (SCSB), a non-invasive movement sensor, in detecting nocturnal periodic movement activity using simultaneous bilateral anterior tibialis electromyography (EMGat) as a reference. Two different study setups were used, one with 500 random record extracts, another with 10 continuous recordings. The inter-rater reliability between two independent scorers was 0.

Sleep apnea syndrome in children--secondary to adenotonsillar hypertrophy?

In this study we investigated the relationship between the size of adenoids and/or tonsils and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in 19 children aged 3 to 7 years. After clinical examination by an ENT specialist, electrocardiogram (ECG), vectorcardiogram (VCG) and echocardiogram (EC) were performed while the patients were awake, and static charge sensitive bed (SCSB) method recording (noninvasive monitoring of ballistocardiogram, respiration and body movements) while asleep. After adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy, the volume of the tonsils and the adenoids was determined.

Sleep disturbances in hypertension: a double-blind study between isradipine and metoprolol.

This was a comparison of the effects of isradipine and metoprolol on sleep apnea syndrome in 12 hypertensive men who were habitual snorers. Each patient received double-blind isradipine 1.25-2.

Pathological heart rate responses associated with body movements in neurologically damaged infants during sleep.

Simultaneous electrocardiogram (ECG) and static charge sensitive bed (SCSB) method recordings were carried out in fifteen healthy and twenty-one neurologically damaged infants during sleep at the age of one week, one month and three months. The SCSB method allows continuous long-term recording of body movements without electrodes connected to the subject. The heart rate response to body movements was studied.

Subglottic stenosis in neonates and children. Clinical findings and therapy.

From 1978 through 1987, acquired subglottic stenosis was confirmed endoscopically in 31 children. The mean gestational age of the children was 32 weeks and mean birthweight 2,180 g. Of the children 84% were below 12 months of age at the time of diagnosis.

SCSB method compared to EEG-based polygraphy in sleep state scoring of newborn infants.

Knowledge of the sleep state is important in physiological studies since many physiological variables show different properties in different sleep states. The recently developed static charge sensitive bed (SCSB) method allows long-term recordings of body movements, respiration and ballistocardiogram without electrodes attached to the subject. The recordings are easy to carry out and they do not disturb the subject in any way.

Pediatric bronchoscopy. A report of methodology and results.

Data for this article were obtained from a retrospective analysis of 386 pediatric bronchoscopies from 1979 through 1986. Endoscopic procedures were carried out under general anesthesia using a rigid open bronchoscope. There were 235 boys (61%) and 151 girls (39%).

Body movements during sleep in healthy and neurologically damaged infants.

The body movements of sixteen healthy and twenty-one neurologically damaged infants were recorded during sleep on the static charge sensitive bed (SCSB). The SCSB method allows long-term monitoring of body movements, respiration and ballistocardiogram. Different body movement variables were estimated at the ages of 1 week, 1 month and 3 months.

Pediatric bronchoscopy during a 17-year period.

From 1969 through 1985, 1032 pediatric bronchoscopies were performed on a total of 748 children under 16 years of age. Of the children 27.4% were under 6 months of age and the smallest patient weighed 600 g.

Radiological parameters of the bony nasopharynx and the adenotonsillar size compared with sleep apnea episodes in children.

The role of enlarged adenoids and tonsils in recurrent respiratory infections and upper airway obstruction has become well-established earlier. In this study we investigated the relationship between the X-ray properties of the nasopharynx and the sleep quality by using a new sleep registration method: The Static Charge Sensitive Bed (SCSB). The estimation of the bony nasopharyngeal dimensions, the measurement of adenotonsillar volume and the sleep recordings were performed as adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy or adenotonsillectomy in hospitalized children.

Heart rate response related to body movements in healthy and neurologically damaged infants during sleep.

Sixteen infants were studied with the static charge sensitive bed (SCSB) method. This method is newly developed for neonatal recordings and it allows recording of body movements, respiration and of the ballistocardiographic signal. Eight healthy newborn infants and eight infants with clear neurological dysfunction were recorded and the heart rate acceleration-deceleration responses to body movements during sleep were studied.

Use of the SCSB method for monitoring of respiration, body movements and ballistocardiogram in infants.

A new method for long-term monitoring of respiration, the ballistocardiogram (BCG), heart rate and body movements in newborn infants and children is presented. The design of the static charge-sensitive bed (SCSB) method for the monitoring of newborn infants and children is described. The method is simple and inexpensive.

Foreign body in the airways of children.

During the years 1969-1981 57 children with inhaled foreign bodies in the tracheobronchial tree were treated at Turku University Hospital. Of the patients 91% had a history of foreign body inhalation and 25% had a radiopaque foreign body which was seen in the X-ray of the chest. In 9% of 57 patients a foreign body was found unexpectedly at bronchoscopy.