Effects of Cacao By-Products and a Modest Weight Loss Intervention on the Concentration of Serum Triglycerides in Overweight Subjects: Proof of Concept.

Therapeutic approaches to decrease serum triglyceride (TG) concentrations are not successful mainly due to poor adherence or adverse effects of therapies. In consequence, the search for new low-cost and safer therapeutic alternatives is mandatory. Dark chocolate and cacao have shown promising results improving lipid profiles.

Three consecutive neurotomies in one patient for the treatment of spastic hemiplegia: Spinal, median, and foot toes common flexor.

Background: Neurotomies were one of the first procedures performed in the field of functional neurosurgery. Microstimulators and microscopes facilitate the performance of neurotomies to treat focal spasticity. This report shows how three different consecutive neurotomies were performed in one patient with chronic left upper/lower extremity spasticity.

Electrical stimulation of the inferior thalamic peduncle in the treatment of major depression and obsessive compulsive disorders.

Objective: Stimulation of the inferior thalamic peduncle (ITP) is emerging as a promising new therapeutic target in certain psychiatric disorders. The circuitry that includes the nonspecific thalamic system (NSTS), which projects via the ITP to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), is involved in the physiopathology of major depression disorder (MDD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The safety and efficacy of chronic ITP stimulation in cases of MDD and OCD refractory to medical treatment is presented.

Bilateral cingulotomy and anterior capsulotomy applied to patients with aggressiveness.

Objective: To perform a preliminary study on the effects and safety of bilateral cingulotomy and anterior capsulotomy in patients with aggressive behavior.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-three psychiatric patients showing aggressive behavior refractory to conventional treatment were initially evaluated. The subjects were clinically selected using the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS) and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF).

[Brain activity associated with a nouns-reading task].

Background: Word reading involves several steps, from the visual perception of each of its constitutent elements to its recognition as an entity with a specific meaning. Various brain structures participate in these processes, depending of the linguistic and cognitive characteristics of the stimulus. Our objective was to characterize brain activity through the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) associated with the process of noun reading.

Coupled obturator neurotomies and lidocaine intrathecal infusion to treat bilateral adductor spasticity and drug-refractory pain.

Spastic diplegia is present in three-fourths of children with cerebral palsy, interfering with gait and frequently accompanied by severe pain. The authors report the case of a 28-year-old woman with history of perinatal hypoxia, who presented with cerebral palsy and severe spastic diplegia (Ashworth Scale Score 4, Tardieu Scale Score 5) and was confined to a wheelchair. She complained of pain in the left hip and knee with mixed neuropathic and somatic components.

Effects of Thalamic Reticular Nucleus Electrical Stimulation in Rats in a T-maze Perseverative Behavior Model Induced by 8-OH-DPAT.

Objective. Evaluate the possible decrease of chemically induced perseverative behavior in rats after electrical stimulation at different frequencies in the thalamic reticular nucleus. Material and Methods.

A systematic review of the efficacy of globus pallidus stimulation in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

The aim of this study was to systematically review the data published on deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the globus pallidus internus (GPi) in Parkinson's disease (PD), and to determine its efficacy and optimal stimulation parameters. Only 22 of 4,648 articles fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study. The data were analysed using the Wilcoxon test.

Effects of bilateral lesions in thalamic reticular nucleus and orbitofrontal cortex in a T-maze perseverative model produced by 8-OH-DPAT in rats.

Objective: Stereotaxic lesions of the orbitofrontal-thalamic system, specifically the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN), could be helpful to prevent perseverative behavior in rats produced by 8-OH-DPAT.

Methods: Fifty rats were conditioned in a T-maze to measure the number of perseverations. Habituation was performed on days 1 and 2, baseline scores were obtained on day 3 and the final test was done on day 4 (chemical induction).

Once-daily extended-release levetiracetam as adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures in patients with epilepsy: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Purpose: Double-blind randomized trial to assess efficacy and tolerability of once-daily extended-release levetiracetam (LEV XR) tablets (2 x 500 mg) as add-on therapy in patients (12-70 years old) with partial-onset seizures (POS) refractory to one to three antiepileptic drugs.

Methods: After an 8-week prospective baseline-period, eligible patients were randomized (1:1) to once-daily LEV XR 1,000 mg/day or placebo for 12 weeks. Evaluations included changes from baseline in POS-frequency/week, responders (>or=50% reduction in POS-frequency/week), seizure-freedom, adverse events, laboratory tests, physical and neurologic examinations, vital signs, body-weight, and 12-lead electrocardiogram.

Bilateral electrical stimulation of prelemniscal radiations in the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Tremor and rigidity have been efficiently controlled by electrical stimulation of contralateral prelemniscal radiations (Raprl) in patients with unilateral Parkinson's disease. The present study determines the effect of bilateral Raprl electrical stimulation in a group of patients with severe bilateral tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia.

Methods: Five patients with Parkinson's disease (Hoehn and Yahr scale, Stage V) underwent bilateral stereotactic electrode implantation.

Efficacy of motor cortex stimulation in the treatment of neuropathic pain: a randomized double-blind trial.

Object: In this study the authors used a double-blind protocol to assess the efficacy of motor cortex stimulation (MCS) for treating neuropathic pain.

Methods: Eleven patients with unilateral neuropathic pain (visual analog scale [VAS] score 8-10) of different origins and topography were selected for MCS. A 20-contact grid was implanted through a craniotomy centered over the motor cortex contralateral to the painful area.

Opioid receptor binding in parahippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: its association with the antiepileptic effects of subacute electrical stimulation.

Opioid receptor binding was evaluated in parahippocampal cortex (PHC) obtained from patients with intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) with and without subacute high frequency electrical stimulation (HFS) in this brain area. Mu, delta and nociceptin receptor binding was determined by autoradiography in PHC of five patients (ESAE group) with MTLE history of 14.8 +/- 2.

Neuromodulation of the centromedian thalamic nuclei in the treatment of generalized seizures and the improvement of the quality of life in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the efficacy of ESCM (electrical stimulation of the centromedian thalamic nucleus) in treatment of generalized seizures of the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) and improvement of patient disability.

Methods: Thirteen patients with LGS were studied. They had severe generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTC) and atypical absences (AA).

Comparative evaluation of the effects of unilateral lesion versus electrical stimulation of the globus pallidus internus in advanced Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To perform a prospective analysis on the effects of unilateral lesion versus unilateral electrical stimulation (ES) of the globus pallidus internus (Gpi) in the treatment of bilateral Parkinson's disease (PD).

Materials And Methods: We studied 18 patients with stages III-V on the Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) scale having prominent rigidity, bradykinesia and gait disturbances. Nine patients were treated with lesions and 9 patients with ES.

Electrocortical and behavioral responses elicited by acute electrical stimulation of inferior thalamic peduncle and nucleus reticularis thalami in a patient with major depression disorder.

Objective: Our aim was to study electrocortical and behavioral responses elicited by 6, 60 and 3/s stimulation of the inferior thalamic peduncle (ITP) and nucleus reticularis thalami (Re) in a patient with of major depression disorder resistant to psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy and candidate to be treated by electrical stimulation of the ITP.

Methods: In this patient, two multicontact electrodes were implanted bilaterally through frontal coronal parasagittal burr-holes with oblique trajectories aiming ITP and Re. Stimulation was performed through externalized systems.

Neurobiological background for performing surgical intervention in the inferior thalamic peduncle for treatment of major depression disorders.

Objective: To present a review of evidence for an inhibitory thalamo-orbitofrontal system related to physiopathology of major depression disorders (MDDs) and to postulate that interfering with hyperactivity of the thalamo-orbitofrontal system by means of chronic high-frequency electrical stimulation of its main fiber connection, the inferior thalamic peduncle (ITP), may result in an improvement in patients with MDD.

Methods: Experimentally, the thalamo-orbitofrontal system has been proposed as part of the nonspecific thalamic system. Under normal conditions, the nonspecific thalamic system induces characteristic electrocortical synchronization in the form of recruiting responses that mimic some sleep stages.

Evaluation of GABA system and cell damage in parahippocampus of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy showing antiepileptic effects after subacute electrical stimulation.

Purpose: The gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system and neuronal loss were evaluated in the parahippocampal cortex (PHC) of patients with intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) who received subacute electrical stimulation and showed antiepileptic effects.

Methods: GABA tissue content, GABA(A) and benzodiazepine (BZD) receptor levels, as well as neuronal density were determined in PHC of five patients (ESAE group) with an MTLE history of 14.8 +/- 2.