[Risk factors for depression after apoplexy].

An unselected cohort of 285 stroke patients, median age 69 years, was studied for correlation between potential risk factors and the one-year incidence of post-stroke depression (PSD). The following factors correlated significantly to PSD a history of previous stroke, a history of previous depression, female gender, living alone and social distress pre-stroke. Further, social inactivity, decrease in social activity, pathological crying and intellectual impairment at one month but not functional outcome correlated to PSD.

Dementia of depression or depression of dementia in stroke?

This study describes the correlation between changes in mood symptoms assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and intellectual impairment assessed by the Brief Cognitive Rating Scale (BCRS) and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (MDRS) in 166 unselected 1-year survivors after stroke, in whom post-stroke depression (PSD) has previously been described and validated. The course of intellectual impairment associated with PSD was compared with the course of intellectual impairment in non-PSD patients. In general, improvement in mood symptoms was correlated with an improvement in intellectual function.

Incidence of central post-stroke pain.

Central post-stroke pain (CPSP) is a neuropathic pain syndrome characterized by constant or intermittent pain in a body part occurring after stroke and associated with sensory abnormalities in the painful body part. This study describes CPSP prospectively during the first year after stroke and characterizes the cerebrovascular lesions and neurological signs associated with the CPSP syndrome. Two hundred and sixty-seven consecutively admitted patients younger than 81 years were examined in the first week, at 1, 6 and 12 months after stroke.

Sensory abnormalities in consecutive, unselected patients with central post-stroke pain.

This study examined the sensory abnormalities in an unselected, consecutive group of patients with central post-stroke pain (CPSP) surviving more than 1 year after stroke. The sensory examination included clinical examination and quantitative measures with detection and pain thresholds to heat and cold stimuli, argon laser, von Frey hair and determination of stimulus-response function in the 10-45 degrees C range. Sensory examination was in 11 identified CPSP patients (5 female, 6 male; aged 43-80 years) carried out in the painful area using the contralateral homologue area as reference.

Post-stroke pathological crying: frequency and correlation to depression.

While pathological crying has classically been described as a disturbance of the motor concomitants of emotional affect that is unrelated to mood, recent studies indicate that there may in fact be a correlation. We therefore undertook a study of post-stroke pathological crying in relation to mood score/depression and lesion site in an unselected stroke population the first year following stroke. The study population comprised 211 patients with first ever stroke (median age 69 years, range 25-80).

Effect of olsalazine and mesalazine on intraluminal pH of the duodenum and proximal jejunum in healthy humans.

Background: Treatment of inflammatory bowel disease with olsalazine causes diarrhoea in 10% of patients. This is claimed to be caused by a drug effect on mucosal transport in the small intestine, which might be reflected in the intraluminal pH. We aimed to study the effect on jejunal pH of olsalazine (Dipentum) and an alternative preparation, slow-release mesalazine (Pentasa).

Pathoanatomic correlation between poststroke pathological crying and damage to brain areas involved in serotonergic neurotransmission.

Background And Purpose: The aim of the study was to correlate the severity of poststroke pathological crying with lesion size and location.

Methods: Twelve selected stroke patients were ranked in terms of overall clinical severity of the syndrome of pathological crying, and the size and location of the stroke lesion(s) were determined by magnetic resonance imaging.

Results: The patients with the clinically most severe pathological crying had relatively large bilateral pontine lesions without lesions in the hemispheres.

Hydroxychloroquine and sulphasalazine alone and in combination in rheumatoid arthritis: a randomised double blind trial.

Objectives: To compare the effects of hydroxychloroquine and sulphasalazine alone and in combination in rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: A six month randomised, multicentre, double blind trial with three parallel groups was performed. Ninety one outpatients with active rheumatoid arthritis were included.

[Radiographic examination of the stomach in Greenlanders].

X-ray examinations of the stomach and duodenum from a two year period of 135 Greenlanders and an equivalent number of Danes were reviewed in order to diagnose all radiological lesions. The results are presented. In 37% of the Greenlanders and 51% of the Danes, x-rays showed normal findings.

[Radiographic examination of the lumbar spine in Greenlanders].

X-ray examinations of the lumbar spine from a two-year period in 268 Greenlanders and an equivalent number of danes were reviewed in order to diagnose all radiological lesions. Twenty-five percent of the X-ray examinations of the Greenlanders and 28% of the Danes showed normal conditions. Eighteen percent of the Greenlanders and 3% of the Danes had evident sacroliitis.

[Arteriosclerosis in Greenlanders].

X-ray examination of the lumbar spine of 268 Greenlanders and a corresponding number of Danes were reviewed in order to diagnose arteriosclerotic lesions of the abdominal aorta. In 10.4% of the Greenlanders and 11.

Double blind placebo controlled trial of pulse treatment with methylprednisolone combined with disease modifying drugs in rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To assess whether monthly treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone enhances or accelerates the effect of disease modifying drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Design: A 12 month double blind, placebo controlled, multicentre trial in which patients with active rheumatoid arthritis were randomly allocated to receive pulses of either methylprednisolone or saline every four weeks for six months. At the start of the pulse treatment all patients were started on penicillamine or azathioprine.

Measurement of gastrointestinal pH and regional transit times in normal children.

Gastrointestinal pH and regional intestinal transit times of a capsule were measured in twelve healthy children aged 8-14 years using a radiotransmitting pH-sensitive capsule. The location of the capsule was determined by fluoroscopy. pH in the stomach was 1.

Gastrointestinal pH and transit times in healthy subjects with ileostomy.

Gastrointestinal pH in 11 healthy subjects with ileostomy was determined with a pH-sensitive, radiotransmitting capsule. Median pH was 7.0 in duodenum, dropped to pH 6.

pH-profile and regional transit times of the normal gut measured by a radiotelemetry device.

The pH of the gut lumen was measured in 39 healthy persons using a pH-sensitive, radiotransmitting capsule. Thirteen persons were studied twice. The location of the capsule was determined by X-ray.

Combination of methylprednisolone pulse therapy and remission inducing drugs in rheumatoid arthritis.

Thirty patients with rheumatoid arthritis were allocated to either methylprednisolone pulse therapy or placebo at the beginning of treatment with either gold salts, penicillamine, or azathioprine. Methylprednisolone pulse therapy produced an immediate but temporary anti-inflammatory effect lasting for a maximum of four to eight weeks. It also caused a lasting depression of serum IgG, but no effect was observed on the proportion of T and B lymphocytes, proliferative responses, or on concanavalin A induced suppressor cell activity, and there was no effect on the amount of circulating immune complexes.

Clinical synovitis and radiological lesions in rheumatoid arthritis. A prospective study of 25 patients during treatment with remission-inducing drugs.

The joints of hands and feet of 25 patients (1150 joints) with rheumatoid arthritis were compared, joint by joint, clinically and radiologically, over 2 years of treatment with remission-inducing drugs. Joints with clinical signs of synovitis decreased from 47% to 17% (p less than 0.001), while the number of joints with radiological lesions increased from 23% to 27% (p less than 0.