Pain Modulation Mechanisms in ASD Adults.

We tested endogenous pain modulation mechanisms in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Nineteen ASD adults without intellectual disabilities were included, matched with 19 healthy volunteers on the basis of sex and chronological age. An experimental pain model was used to measure excitatory and inhibitory pain mechanisms in a single session.

Effect of experimental stress in 2 different pain conditions affecting the facial muscles.

Unlabelled: Chronic facial muscle pain is a common feature in both fibromyalgia (FM) and myofascial (MF) pain conditions. In this controlled study, a possible difference in the mode of deregulation of the physiological response to a stressing stimulus was explored by applying an acute mental stress to FM and MF patients and to controls. The effects of the stress test were observed on pain, sympathetic variables, and both tonic and reflex electromyographic activities of masseteric and temporal muscles.

[A bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis due to Parsonage and Turner syndrome--its evolution over eight years].

The diaphragmatic paralysis is a rare disease whose causes and evolving forms are numerous. We report the development to eight years of paralysis diaphragmatic bilateral attributed to a Parsonage-Turner syndrome: the lack of recovery is proved by respiratory functional follow-up. The therapeutic possibilities, limited, are discussed.

A case of cutaneous sensory neuropathy associated with Churg-Strauss syndrome.

Cutaneous sensory neuropathy manifests as multiple, sharply demarcated areas of hypoesthesia with a variable degree of pain. This rare neuropathy is caused by a multifocal infection or inflammation of the small sensory nerves of the skin. We report a case in a patient with febrile arthritis and eosinophilia.

[Perineural fibrosis of the median nerve at the wrist. Treatment by neurolysis and dermal-hypodermal graft].

Unlabelled: In the treatment of multiple recurrences of carpal tunnel syndrome due to fibrosis, following repeated nerve release, the authors propose interposition of a composite dermal fat graft raised from the inguinal region, and report four clinical cases using this technique. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the graft in terms of clinical and electromyographic results and determine the course of the graft by a postoperative MRI study and a longer follow-up.

Clinical Results: Nocturnal paraesthesiae resolved in 2 patients, was improved in one patient and remained unchanged in another patient.

[Acute polyradiculoneuritis and Lyme disease].

A thirty-three-year-old patient developed polyradiculoneuritis with several post-therapeutic relapses despite excellent response to treatment by intravenous polyvalent gammaglobulin. After the second relapse, positive titres for Borrelia burgdorferi were found in serum and C.S.

Assessment of a newly recognized association. Carotid sinus hypersensitivity and denervation of sternocleidomastoid muscles.

Background: Carotid sinus syndrome has been reported recently to be associated with chronic denervation of the sternocleidomastoid muscles. To further understand the relationship between carotid mechanoreceptors and sternocleidomastoid denervation, the present study investigated the relation between the results of carotid sinus massage and electromyographic activity of the sternocleidomastoid muscles in patients without syncope.

Methods And Results: Patients were selected prospectively if they fulfilled strict exclusion criteria, particularly the absence of a history of syncope, pacemaker implantation, or drugs known to modify the behavior of the autonomic nervous system.

New insights into the pathophysiology of carotid sinus syndrome.

Background: The pathophysiology of carotid sinus syndrome remains poorly understood. Currently, two main hypotheses are provided: a lesion at the level of carotid sinus receptors or a central defect at the level of the nuclei of the autonomic nervous system. The objective of our study was to present arguments in favor of one of these two hypotheses.

[Presymptomatic injury of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in benign thyroid disease: contribution of electromyography].

Diagnosis of recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy is usually possible through a clinical, laryngoscopical and electromyographical approach, but at a critical stage of the nerve injury. We observed four cases of benign thyroïd tumoral processes with a preoperative electromyographic examination showing neurogenic abnormalities in the thyroarytenoid muscle without any clinical symptoms. We presume that only laryngeal electromyography permits the diagnosis of mild, even asymptomatic laryngeal recurrent nerve injury.

[Central pontine myelinolysis disclosed by severe pseudobulbar syndrome without motor involvement of the limbs].

A young alcoholic man, receiving diuretics, developed a marked pseudo bulbar syndrome after rapid correction of hyponatremia. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a central pontine myelinolysis, associated with extra-pontine lesions in both thalami. The patient fully recovered, despite persistent radiologic abnormality.