Deep brain stimulation for generalised dystonia and spasmodic torticollis.

Dystonia appears distinct from the other tremulous disorders in that improvement following deep brain stimulation frequently appears in a delayed and progressive manner. The rate of this improvement and the point at which no further progress can be expected are presently unknown. The establishment of these parameters is important in the provision of accurate and relevant prognostic information to these patients, their carers, and their treating physicians.

Radical cystectomy in the elderly: Comparison of survival between younger and older patients.

Background: The authors reported their experience with radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder. They compared pathologic features and survival rates between older and younger patients.

Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the records of 1054 patients who underwent radical cystectomy for bladder TCC between 1971 and 1997.

The importance of an extended lymphadenectomy in the management of high-grade invasive bladder cancer.

The role of a regional lymphadenectomy in the surgical management of high-grade invasive bladder cancer has evolved over the last several decades. A growing body of evidence suggests that an extended lymph node dissection may provide, not only improved prognostic information, but also a clinically significant therapeutic benefit for both lymph node-positive and -negative patients undergoing radical cystectomy. The extent of the primary bladder tumor, number of lymph nodes removed and the lymph node tumor burden are important prognostic variables in patients undergoing cystectomy.

Pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation improves akinesia in a Parkinsonian monkey.

We have studied the effects of stimulating the pedunculopontine nuclei through a fully implanted macroelectrode with a s.c. implantable pulse generator whose parameters can be programmed telemetrically, in a macaque before and after inducing Parkinsonian akinesia with MPTP.

Molecular pathways in bladder cancer.

The aim of this review is to provide a contemporary outline of our current understanding of the molecular and genetic events associated with tumorigenesis and the progression of bladder cancer. A comprehensive review of the literature was performed on the molecular alterations associated with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder. Intense research efforts are being made to better identify and characterize various bladder cancers and their true biologic potential.

Prognosis of patients with lymph node positive prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy: long-term results.

Purpose: We determined the prognostic factors that affect recurrence and survival in patients with lymph node positive prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: Between 1972 and 1999, 1,936 patients underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection for clinically organ confined prostate cancer. A total of 235 patients (12.

Usefulness of CA 125 as a preoperative prognostic marker for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Purpose: We evaluated the role of CA 125 as a prognostic marker in patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder undergoing uniform radical cystectomy with bilateral pelvic iliac lymphadenectomy.

Materials And Methods: From April 1996 to March 2001, 287 patients with a median age of 68 years (range 34 to 89) had preoperative CA 125 serum assays performed. All patients had high grade or invasive TCC and were scheduled to undergo radical cystectomy.

Clock drawing in developmental dyslexia.

Although developmental dyslexia is often defined as a language-based reading impairment not attributable to low intelligence or educational or socioeconomic limitations, the behavioral manifestations of dyslexia are not restricted to the realm of language. Functional brain imaging studies have shed light on physiological differences associated with poor reading both inside and outside the classical language areas of the brain. Concurrently, clinically useful tests that elicit these nonlinguistic deficits are few.

A 77-kilobase region of chromosome 6p22.2 is associated with dyslexia in families from the United Kingdom and from the United States.

Several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that influence developmental dyslexia (reading disability [RD]) have been mapped to chromosome regions by linkage analysis. The most consistently replicated area of linkage is on chromosome 6p23-21.3.

Extracting burst and tonic components from surface electromyograms in dystonia using adaptive wavelet shrinkage.

The compound surface electromyograms (EMGs) recorded from patients with dystonia commonly contains superimposed bursting and tonic activity representing various motor symptoms. It is desirable to differentially extract them from the compound EMGs so that different symptoms can be more specifically investigated and different mechanisms revealed. A non-linear denoising approach based on wavelet transformation was investigated by applying soft thresholding to the wavelet coefficients.

The management of urethral transitional cell carcinoma after radical cystectomy for invasive bladder cancer.

Purpose: Previous reports have identified risk factors for urethral recurrence following radical cystectomy for transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). However, reports of the clinical presentation, treatment and outcome in these patients are lacking. We report our experience with the diagnosis, management and outcome of urethral TCC after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer.

Magnocellular mediated visual-spatial attention and reading ability.

This study explores the relationship between attentional processing mediated by visual magnocellular (MC) processing and reading ability. Reading ability in a group of primary school children was compared to performance on a visual cued coherent motion detection task. The results showed that a brief spatial cue was more effective in drawing attention either away or towards a visual target in the group of readers ranked in the upper 25% of the sample compared to lower ranked readers.

Urethral foreign body management: a case report.

The management of urethral foreign bodies may require the use of various surgical techniques in a urologist's armamentarium. We report a unique case of a urethral foreign body requiring percutaneous and endoscopic techniques for removal.

New molecular markers for bladder cancer detection.

Purpose Of Review: Bladder cancer continues to be one of the most common genitourinary malignancies. The mainstay of diagnosis remains cystoscopic visualization with transurethral biopsy or resection. As over two-thirds of bladder tumors recur, vigilant surveillance is required.

The evolving role of pelvic lymphadenectomy in the treatment of bladder cancer.

Regional lymphadenectomy is integral to the surgical management of high-grade invasive bladder cancer. A growing body of evidence suggests that a lymph node dissection may provide not only improved prognostic information, but also a clinically significant therapeutic benefit for both lymph node positive and negative patients undergoing radical cystectomy. While the inclusion of lymph node resection in conjunction with radical cystectomy for patients with clinically negative nodes is well accepted, the extent of the nodal dissection remains highly contentious.

The orthotopic T pouch ileal neobladder: experience with 209 patients.

Purpose: A serous lined extramural ileal flap valve technique called the T limb was developed to prevent reflux of urine in an orthotopic bladder substitute called the T pouch. We evaluate our intermediate clinical and functional experience with the orthotopic T pouch ileal neobladder.

Materials And Methods: From November 1996 through May 2000, 209 patients (169 men [80%], 40 women), with a mean age of 69 years (range 33 to 93) underwent construction of an orthotopic T pouch ileal neobladder after cystectomy.

Phantom limb pain relieved with different modalities of central nervous system stimulation: a clinical and functional imaging case report of two patients.

Phantom limb pain (PLP) is a type of neuropathic pain syndrome that has evoked much interest in scientific and clinical fields. The condition is often intractable and severely debilitating. Though there are anecdotal reports in the literature of successful management of individual cases with brain and spinal cord stimulation, it has not been possible to develop a system of management that is consistently successful, mainly due to the paucity of basic neurophysiological data about PLP and its pathways in the central nervous system (CNS).

Pubovaginal slings for stress urinary incontinence following radical cystectomy and orthotopic neobladder reconstruction in women.

Purpose: We evaluated the clinical efficacy of pubovaginal slings for new onset stress urinary incontinence following radical cystectomy and orthotopic lower urinary tract reconstruction in women.

Materials And Methods: Between June 1990 and July 2002, 101 female patients with primary transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder were treated with radical cystectomy and orthotopic ileal neobladder reconstruction. Four patients 61 to 73 years old underwent pubovaginal slings (autologous rectus fascia in 2 and dermal graft in 2) for stress urinary incontinence persisting 9 to 20 months following reconstruction with a Studer (2) or T pouch (2) ileal neobladder.

Prognosis of seminal vesicle involvement by transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Purpose: Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder that extends directly into contiguous organs (pT4) portends a poor prognosis. The 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system does not include seminal vesicle involvement by primary TCC of the bladder. In this analysis we evaluated the clinical outcomes and prognostic significance of seminal vesicle involvement with TCC of the bladder after radical cystectomy.

Optimising coherence estimation to assess the functional correlation of tremor-related activity between the subthalamic nucleus and the forearm muscles.

Application of coherence estimation needs not only to correctly estimate coherence values but also to efficiently test the statistical significance of the estimates. In the present report, we have explained the approach of optimising a coherence estimator by restricting its normalised bias error and random error. In addition to the commonly used independence threshold, two more tests based on the probability of detection and the exact confidence interval have been proposed for detecting the significance of the coherence estimates.

Two visual motion processing deficits in developmental dyslexia associated with different reading skills deficits.

Developmental dyslexia is associated with deficits in the processing of visual motion stimuli, and some evidence suggests that these motion processing deficits are related to various reading subskills deficits. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying such associations. This study lays a richer groundwork for exploration of such mechanisms by more comprehensively and rigorously characterizing the relationship between motion processing deficits and reading subskills deficits.

A rare craniofacial cleft: numbers 7, 2, and 3 clefts accompanied by a single median lip pit.

A unique case of a unilateral partial Tessier no. 7 cleft accompanied by no. 2 and 3 clefts along with a single median lip pit is presented.

Senile chorea treated by deep brain stimulation: a clinical, neurophysiological and functional imaging study.

We report on a patient with senile chorea, treated with deep brain stimulation of the left globus pallidus internus and subsequently the left ventralis oralis posterior nucleus of the thalamus. Deep brain field potential recordings and functional imaging using single photon emission tomography enabled us to suggest pathophysiological mechanisms for the symptoms.