Neuroradiological features of intracranial and intraorbital meningeal haemangiopericytomas.

The neuroradiological features of six intracranial and one intraorbital haemangiopericytomas (HP) are reviewed. CT was performed before and after IV contrast medium in 5 patients. In 2 patients MRI was performed before and after contrast medium; in another, only unenhanced images were obtained.

Early clinical and imaging (high-field MRI) diagnosis of Hallervorden-Spatz disease.

In a 10-year-old girl, with progressive motor disturbance since the age of seven years and dominant pyramidal signs, MRI revealed marked overall low signal from the globus pallidus on each side, with central zones of high signal. There was also strikingly low signal in the zona reticularis of the substantia nigra, indicative of Hallervorden-Spatz disease (HSD).

Migraine and epilepsy with infantile onset and electroencephalographic findings of occipital spike-wave complexes.

An EEG finding of temporo-occipital or temporo-parieto-occipital spike-wave complexes, suppressed by eye opening, coexisting with classical migraine, was observed in 14 children; in 13 of these patients, seizures were present. Classical migraine, visual phenomena and seizures coexisted in different clinical patterns.

Idiopathic and symptomatic trigeminal pain.

The trigeminal reflexes (corneal reflex, blink reflex, masseter inhibitory periods, jaw-jerk) and far field scalp potentials (nerve, root, brainstem, subcortical) evoked by percutaneous infraorbital stimulation were recorded in 30 patients with "idiopathic" trigeminal neuralgia (ITN) and 20 with "symptomatic" trigeminal pain (STP): seven postherpetic neuralgia, five multiple sclerosis, four tumour, two vascular malformation, one Tolosa-Hunt syndrome, and one traumatic fracture. All the patients with STP and two of those with ITN had trigeminal reflex abnormalities; 80% of patients with STP and 30% of those with ITN had evoked potential abnormalities. The results indicate that 1) trigeminal reflexes and evoked potentials are both useful in the examination of patients with trigeminal pain, and in cases secondary to specific pathologies provide 100% sensitivity; 2) in "symptomatic" and "idiopathic" paroxysmal pain the primary lesion affects the afferent fibres in the proximal portion of the root or the intrinsic portion in the pons; 3) primary sensory neurons of the A-beta fibre group are involved in both paroxysmal and constant pain, but in the latter the damage is far more severe.

Increased reactivity to a met-enkephalin analogue in the control of autonomic responses in migraine patients.

The effects of naloxone and a met-enkephalin analogue on head pain, vascular responses, and autonomic-associated symptoms were studied in 24 migraine patients, 12 patients suffering from tension-type headache, and 24 normal subjects in whom headache was induced by intravenous injections of increasing doses of histamine (histamine test). A hypersensitivity to histamine was found in migraine patients. Naloxone slightly increased the intensity of pain in migraine and tension-type headache sufferers.

Regression of an internal carotid artery pseudoaneurysm after therapeutic embolization of a post-traumatic carotid-cavernous fistula secondary to gunshot injury.

A case is reported of a 53-year-old woman who was hit by a bullet which penetrated the skull base and caused a left carotid-cavernous fistula of the direct type and a pseudoaneurysmal dilation of the high cervical portion of the left internal carotid artery. The fistula was successfully embolized by positioning a balloon into the fistula itself by means of the Debrun technique: unexpectedly the size of the pseudoaneurysm decreased after the embolization; the possible explanations for this event are discussed.

Polymicrogyria: a case detected by MRI.

We report a 3-year-old child affected by severe encephalopathy, partial seizures with early onset and microgyria whom polymicrogyria was detected by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We believe that MRI first allow an early and confident in vivo diagnosis of this severe and probably not so rare condition.

Migraine and other clinical syndromes in children affected by EEG occipital spike-wave complexes.

Twenty EEG recordings obtained in children showed temporo-parieto occipital or temporo-occipital spikes or spike-wave complexes suppressed by eye-opening. Patients showed different neurological syndromes: classic migraine, vertebrobasilar migraine, visual phenomena, epilepsy, psychomotor retardation. Thirteen subjects were affected by epileptic seizures, which were preceded by visual phenomena in 12 cases.

Spasmophilia: a clinical neurophysiopathological and biochemical study.

Spasmophilia is a problem much debated as regards its nosographic location. Its paroxysmal onset in a "neurotic" patient has confined spasmophilia within a psychiatric syndromic complex for many years. In the present study, strict clinical criteria used in selecting a population of spasmophilic patients included clinical, neurophysiological, biohumoral and psychological evaluations, providing further information about the real organic features of this syndrome.

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging in the aging brain.

43 patients aged over 55 years with different clinical diagnoses but with the common aspect of impairment of the cognitive functions underwent a 0.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigation in order to obtain further information about the pathological causes underlying the clinical syndromes. The occurrence of white matter signal alterations (periventricular lucency) and of multifocal ischemic areas represented the most frequent and atypical finding.

A multicenter double-blind controlled trial comparing lidamidine HCl and loperamide in the symptomatic treatment of acute diarrhoea.

The efficacy of 1-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-3-methyl-amidinourea hydrochloride (lidamidine HCl, WHR-1142 A) an aryl-substituted amidinourea recently synthesized, was compared with that of loperamide in 32 patients with acute diarrhoea. The results of the study show that lidamidine HCl and loperamide had comparable effects in the pharmacological treatment of acute non-specific diarrhoea. Lidamidine HCl was also shown to be well tolerated; side-effects were generally minor and self-limiting.

Flunarizine-pizotifen single-dose double-blind cross-over trial in migraine prophylaxis.

The results of a double-blind cross-over clinical trial involving 27 patients with classical or common migraine are described to compare the prophylactic effect of the calcium entry blocker flunarizine with that of pizotifen. Duration of the treatment was two months, with an evening single-dose administration of both drugs. For most parameters, there was no definite difference between flunarizine and pizotifen in migraine prophylaxis.

Rolandic paroxysmal epilepsy: a long term study in 150 children.

150 children with Rolandic paroxysmal epilepsy (RPE) aged 3 to 12 years were followed up clinically and by EEG for 16 years. Antiepileptic drugs were administered initially for 2 years and then suspended for 6-12 months. Treatment was resumed in the 29 patients who had seizures during the drug-free interval and was maintained for a further 5 years.

Can antigliadin antibody detect symptomless coeliac disease in children with short stature?

Duodenal biopsy and tests for antigliadin antibodies were done in 108 children with short stature unassociated with gastrointestinal symptoms. Other investigations for causes of growth failure were also carried out. In 88 patients, the cause of short stature could not be determined (group I).

[Double-blind clinical study: flunarizine versus pizotifen in a single nightly dose in hemicrania patients].

In this double-blind clinical trial we compared the prophylactic efficacy of the calcium-entry blocker flunarizine (15 mg nocte) with that of pizotifen (1,5 mg nocte). In 30 patients affected by classical and common migraine. During a two months treatment both drugs showed a good efficacy.

[Neurotransmitter control of pupillary motoricity in man].

The pupillary responses to different agonists and antagonists of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems have been studied in normal volunteers. The eyedrops were instilled unilaterally and the responses were evaluated by measuring the changes in diameter of the pupils (in millimeters). All the eyedrops induced an unilateral response on the instilled side.

Trigeminal control of cranio-facial vasomotor response: I. Histamine test in patients with unilateral gasserian ganglion lesions.

It has been hypothesized that the trigeminal system may control vasomotor changes and pain in vascular headaches. In this study, headache was induced by an intravenous injection of histamine in 37 patients with trigeminal rhizotomy and in 12 controls. The vasomotor response to histamine was studied with facial telethermography.

Naloxone-induced jumping activity in morphine-dependent mice: a pharmacological study on the role of DA2 receptors.

The morphine withdrawal syndrome is strictly related to modifications on neurotransmittorial systems at central and peripheral levels. Dopamine seems to play an important role. Particularly in the experimental withdrawal syndrome the jumping activity seems to be related to a hypersensitivity of DA receptors.

Post-traumatic headache: neuropsychological and clinical aspects.

Seventy patients suffering from post-traumatic headache were studied. Pain characteristics, personality and intellectual functions were assessed to be related to cranial trauma. No evident signs of brain damage were present, but an impairment related to pain in personal adjustment and well-being reducing work and study capabilities was identified.