Results of ulnar neuropathy at the elbow treated by decompression or anterior transposition.

A retrospective study was conducted on 148 patients with ulnar neuropathy at the elbow, who underwent surgical treatment between 1981 and 1989. Of the 178 nerves operated on, 105 underwent subcutaneous anterior transposition, and 73 were decompressed without transposition. We compared the surgical results of these two groups, and factors influencing prognosis.

Quadriceps strength deficit associated with rectus fernoris rupture: a case report.

We report a case of rectus femoris rupture of the quadriceps muscles. Isokinetic muscle testing was undertaken at joint angular velocities of 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 deg s(-1) to establish the knee extensor muscle strength deficits associated with this condition. The mean strength deficit over these joint angular velocities was 16.

Incontinentia pigmenti (Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome). A case report.

Incontinentia pigmenti is a rare genodermatosis with multiple manifestations affecting the skeletal, ocular, dental, and other tissues. More than 95% of reported cases occur in females, and more than 60% of reported cases involve some dental abnormality. A brief review of the literature and a case in a 7-year-old girl with the disease are presented.

Physiological analysis of simple rapid movements in patients with cerebellar deficits.

Patients with cerebellar deficits made elbow flexion movements as rapidly as possible for three different angular distances. Electromyographic activity of biceps and triceps and the kinematics of the movements were analysed. Results were compared with those of normal subjects making both rapid and slow movements.

Important features associated with acute anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The mechanism of injury and the signs and symptoms associated with initial injury to the anterior cruciate ligament were investigated in 23 subjects. The subjects had injured only their anterior cruciate ligament with no other clinically definable laxity to other major ligamentous structures. The results showed that 70% of subjects had injured their anterior cruciate ligament at footstrike during noncontact situations.

Surgery for refractory epilepsy.

Over a six-year period, 130 patients with medically intractable epilepsy were assessed for possible surgical treatment. Initial assessment comprised full neurological and neuropsychological examination, computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging brain scanning, and simultaneous video and surface plus sphenoidal electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings of typical seizures. Forty-one patients (32%) underwent further video and EEG recordings of their seizures with depth (intracerebral) or strip (subdural) electrodes.

Selective epilepsy surgery in tuberous sclerosis.

A patient with tuberous sclerosis diagnosed at the age of 5 years developed an intractable seizure disorder characterized by complex partial seizures numbering 10-20/day. Interictal electroencephalograms (EEG) showed a right frontal epileptogenic focus. A computerized tomography scan demonstrated calcification in the right frontal region at two sites, periventricular calcification and multiple low density lesions.

Epilepsy surgery in Sturge-Weber syndrome.

A patient with Sturge-Weber syndrome developed seizures at the age of 4 years. At 13 years of age, she had intractable complex partial seizures with marked visual symptomatology. Interictal encephalograms showed bilateral slow activity, more marked over the right hemisphere with epileptogenic activity maximal in the right temporal region.

Hyperostosis of anterior cervical vertebrae: a rare cause of dysphagia.

Recently, we treated two cases of dysphagia as a result of anterior cervical osteophytes. The cases were the result of two different aetiologies. Referral was delayed in one case because a general practitioner was under the impression that the condition was untreatable.

Selection criteria for surgery in patients with refractory epilepsy.

Between February 1983 and August 1986, 53 patients underwent inpatient evaluation at the Neuropsychiatric Institute, Prince Henry Hospital to determine their suitability for epilepsy surgery. The patients were first continuously monitored with a video camera during surface and sphenoidal electrode telemetry. During this phase, clinical, radiological, neuropsychological and psychosocial evaluations were performed and intracarotid sodium amylobarbitone injections were used to lateralise language and memory function.

Video recording in general practice: the patients do mind.

The consent rate for video recording of consultations was examined in a semi-rural training practice in Scotland using a sample of over 1000 patients. An attempt was made to reduce the coercive methods of obtaining consent used in previous studies. In a first study explanatory letters were left in the waiting area - 273 patients returning to reception were asked if they wished to be filmed at a later date - 61 patients (22%) agreed.

Abnormalities of multimodality evoked potentials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Thirty-two patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis were studied with somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs), visual evoked potentials, and brain-stem auditory evoked potentials. H-reflexes were used to screen for abnormalities of peripheral nerve conduction. Nineteen patients (59%) showed an abnormality of lower extremity SEPs.

Failure to confirm a correlation between electromyogram and final position.

Attempts were made to correlate angular position of the elbow with integrated electromyographic activity of biceps and triceps. Five conditions were studied: isometric co-contraction and immediately after fast flexion, slow flexion, fast extension and slow extension movements. Neither activity of biceps, activity of triceps or the ratio of activities correlated with any of four different angles for these five conditions.

An enzyme-linked immunoassay for thyroid microsomal antibodies.

An enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) for microsomal antibody is described. The method was found to be rapid, sensitive and precise and analysis of 115 serum samples showed good correlation between the ELISA and the conventional tanned red cell haemagglutination test. The presence of thyroglobulin antibody, rheumatoid factor, antinuclear factor or gastric parietal cell antibodies did not interfere in the microsomal antibody ELISA but some sera with mitochondrial antibody activity appeared to cause a non-specific effect.

Familial ovarian cancer. How rare is it?

This paper reports an apparently hereditary ovarian carcinoma in the authors' family. A grandmother, her daughter and five granddaughters have been affected. Three of the granddaughters were sisters.

Bumetanide-induced diuresis and natriuresis: effect of prostaglandin synthetase inhibition.

The effects on the renal actions of bumetanide of two inhibitors of prostaglandin synthetase, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and indomethacin, were studied in eight normal adults. Indomethacin alone resulted in a significant decrease in FENa compared to the control period. Bumetanide alone resulted in increases in urine volume, FENa, and plasma renin activity.

Change in response with age of human articular cartilage to plasma somatomedin activity.

Normal male articular cartilage (34 specimens, age range 1--30 years) has been examined in vitro for response to somatomedin (SM) activity. Basal 3H-thymidine and 35S-sulfate incorporation both decreased with increasing age of the cartilage donor. However, enhancement of isotope incorporation which was attained on addition of 10% normal plasma (containing IU SM/ml) was greatest in cartilage from adolescents in the age range 12--17 years.

Retrospective survey of neurotraumatic admissions to a teaching hospital: comparison of data on spinal injuries after 10 to 16 years.

A retrospective survey of 202 patients with spine and cord injuries who were treated in the Prince Henry Hospital and the Prince of Wales Hospital from January, 1960, to December, 1965, was published in 1968. Ten years later, 98 patients with spine and cord injuries who were admitted over a two-year period (January, 1975, to December, 1976) were similarly studied. The data of the two surveys were compared, and changes in clinical and epidemiological features were evaluated.