Inhibitory phenomena during NREM sleep related to auditory stimuli and epileptic spikes.

Auditory stimuli induce facilitation of the H reflex during wakefulness (so-called audio-spinal influence). In 5 subjects we found that, during SWS, the same stimuli may provoke phasic losses of muscle tone and H reflex inhibition. Similar losses of tone and H reflex inhibition were related to epileptic spikes in 3 patients.

CT scan prediction of late post-traumatic epilepsy.

Out of 233 patients admitted for head trauma during 1977-1978, 93 had a CT scan examination within the first 48 hours. Forty-nine of these had at least one clinical risk factor for post-traumatic epilepsy. Ten of this group developed post-traumatic epilepsy.

The clinical course and prognosis of carotid artery occlusion.

The clinical course of 100 consecutive patients with angiographically proven carotid occlusion was reviewed. Ninety-three patients had been hospitalised for early stroke appropriate to the occlusion, and seven for transient ischaemic attacks. 68 patients were followed up from 1.

Classification of partial epilepsies according to the symptomatology of seizures: practical value and prognostic implications.

Among 1,000 outpatient epileptics who visited the Epilepsy Center of Bologna consecutively from 1974 to 1978, 596 cases of partial epilepsy (PE) were chosen, representing 62.9% of all cases classified according to the International Classification of epilepsies. Fifty-four of these cases (5.

Systemic arterial pressure and heart rate changes during migraine and cluster headaches: preliminary study.

In a case of common migraine and in two cases of cluster headache we monitored the arterial pressure and the heart rate by means of polygraphic recordings before, during and after headache attacks. During migraine attacks the arterial pressure did not show significant changes; the heart rate increased. During cluster attacks the arterial pressure increased with frequent hypertensive peaks; the heart rate on average slowed down and showed marked irregularities.

Changes in systemic arterial pressure during sleep in Shy-Drager syndrome.

Polygraphic findings during spontaneous nocturnal sleep of 2 patients suffering from Shy-Drager syndrome are reported. In both patients, total sleep time was reduced--sleep latency and awakening periods during the night being increased. Considerable reductions of rapid eye movement (REM) stage and, in 1 patient, also of deep non-REM (NREM; stages 3-4) were found.

Hypnogenic paroxysmal dystonia: epileptic seizure or a new syndrome?

Five patients between the ages of 7 and 74 years presented with nocturnal episodes characterized by coarse, often violent movements of the limbs and by a tonic phase of variable duration. Seizures recurred every night or almost every night during slow wave (NREM) sleep and were not associated with electroencephalographic (EEG) abnormalities. Interictal EEGs were normal during both sleep and wakefulness.

Temporal lobe epilepsy with ecstatic seizures (so-called Dostoevsky epilepsy).

The present report documents for the first time the polygraphic pattern of an ecstatic seizure and confirms that this kind of seizure may be an expression of a temporal lobe epilepsy.

[Hypersomnia with periodic apneas (author's transl)].

Patients suffering from Pickwickian syndrome or primary hypoventilation syndrome present apneas of a predominantly obstructive type which follow one another without interruptions throughout the duration of sleep. It is not possible to ascribe the somnolence of these patients to carbonarcosis, because in most cases Pa CO2, though high during sleep, presents normal values or slightly higher than normal values during wakefulness. Obstructive apneas are the cause of this syndrome: the elimination of obstructive apneas by means of tracheostomy leads to a complete clinical recovery.

Epileptic seizures during card games and draughts.

This paper presents a case of epileptic seizures occurring during card games and draughts. The patient was a 26-year-old man who complained of "arrests of thought" while playing cards or draughts or solving mathematical problems. The attacks, which were very rare in other situations, had begun at the age of 14.

Simultaneous occurrence of neuralgic amyotrophy in three members of one family.

3 cases are reported, where neuralgic amyotrophy occurred simultaneously in 3 members of one family, living in the same household. Despite the familial occurrence and the simultaneous onset, the clinical pictures were those of the common form of the neuralgic amyotrophy.

Peripheral neuropathy due to gasoline sniffing - A case report.

A case of polyneuropathy in a 14-year-old boy, a chronic gasoline sniffer, is reported. Clinical and electromyographic examination showed a symmetrical motor involvement, mainly distally and in the lower limbs. A sural nerve biopsy showed only slight changes, both of axonal and demyelinating type.