The distinction between state and trait anxiety levels in patients with BPPV in comparison with healthy controls.

Introduction: An association exists between vestibular dysfunction and anxiety, yet a distinction between state and trait anxiety in patients with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) in comparison with healthy subjects has not been well established. The aim of this study is to assess both state and trait anxiety levels in patients with BPPV in comparison with healthy controls, and their relations with cardiac autonomic parameters.

Materials And Methods: A case-control study, that included patients with BPPV (N = 18) referred to vestibular physiotherapy and gender and age matched healthy controls (N = 18).

The cardiac autonomic control system response to vestibular stimulation in subjects with BPPV compared with healthy controls.

Background: Vestibulo-sympathetic reflexes (VSR) demonstrate the autonomic interaction between the vestibular system and the cardiovascular system, however little is known about this interaction in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Although the main complaint of patients with BPPV is vertigo, additional symptoms such as nausea and sweating raise questions whether patients with BPPV have impaired VSR.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the cardiac autonomic control system (CACS) response to vestibular stimulation in subjects with BPPV compared with healthy controls.

[Equilibrium and falls in the elderly].

Falls are the leading cause of injury-related visits to the emergency departments and the primary etiology of accidental deaths in persons over the age of 65 years. The mortality rate for falls increases dramatically with age in both sexes and in all racial ethnic groups, with falls accounting for 70% of accidental deaths in persons 75 years of age and older. Falls can be markers of poor health and declining function, and they are often associated with significant morbidity.

Effect of exogenous thyroid-stimulating hormone on thyroid papillary carcinoma cells in tissue culture.

Background: To determine the prognostic value of thyroid suppression therapy in patients with thyroid carcinoma, we studied the effect of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) on the morphology, proliferation rate, and the T3, T4 production rate of primary thyroid carcinoma cells in culture.

Methods: From August 1997 to February 1998 tissues were collected for immediate culture from 13 patients undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer. Cells were incubated for 48 h with TSH in different concentrations.