Publications by authors named "Heike Losch"

Article Synopsis
  • This study investigates the clinical and MRI characteristics of children with autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy, revealing limited data compared to what is known in adults.
  • Researchers analyzed cases of 15 children from various clinical centers, finding common symptoms like acute encephalitis and meningitis, and specific MRI patterns in all cases.
  • The findings suggest that GFAP antibodies lead to distinct clinical and imaging features, emphasizing the need for testing in pediatric patients with similar symptoms, especially those with brainstem involvement.
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Aim: To compare the 66-item Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66) with the reduced version of the GMFM-66 (rGMFM-66) with respect to the detection of clinically relevant changes in gross motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

Method: The study was a retrospective single centre analysis of children with CP who participated in a rehabilitation programme. Overall, 1352 pairs of GMFM-66 and rGMFM66 measurements with a time interval of 5 to 7 months were available.

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Cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita (CMTC) is characterized by coarse-meshed capillary malformations arranged in asymmetrically distributed patches. The disorder may be associated with hyper- or hypoplastic limbs, syndactyly, cleft palate, and glaucoma. Because the disease usually occurs sporadically, the concept of a lethal mutation surviving by mosaicism was proposed about 30 years ago.

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Standardized tests that are frequently used to evaluate the cognitive development of very-low-birthweight children often appear to measure motor ability as well as cognitive skills. To estimate the impact of motor skills on individual test performance among very-low-birthweight children of kindergarten age, we employed factor analysis in a sample of 298 very-low-birthweight children that included severely disabled children. Using a test battery designed to measure concentration, language skills, overall cognitive development, visuomotor abilities, and memory, we identified two factors in each of three diagnostic subgroups: unimpaired children (n = 184), clumsy children (n = 56), and children with cerebral palsy (n = 33).

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