Tactile stimulation facilitates functional recovery and dendritic change following neonatal hemidecortication in rats.

After large neocortical lesions, such as hemidecortication, children can show significant motor and cognitive impairments. It thus is of considerable interest to identify treatments that might enhance long-term functional outcome. We have previously shown that tactile stimulation enhances recovery from perinatal focal cortical lesions in rats, so the goal of the present experiment was to explore the effectiveness of postlesion tactile stimulation in reducing functional deficits associated with neonatal hemidecortication.

Comparison of motor recovery after neonatal and adult hemidecortication.

Hemidecortication produces a wide range of cognitive and motor symptoms in both children and lab animals that are generally far greater than smaller bilateral focal lesions of cerebral cortex. Although there have been many studies of motor functions after hemidecortication, the analyses largely have been of general motor functions rather than of more skilled motor functions such as forelimb reaching. The objective of the present experiment was to analyze the sensorimotor forelimb function of rats after infant or adult hemidecortication by utilizing multiple motor analyses.

Hydrometrocolpos and postaxial polydactyly in a girl newborn: A case report.

This case report is of a 35-week female neonate with a cystic abdominal mass. Physical examination was notable for post-axial polydactyly, distended abdomen, and abnormal urethral opening. Differential diagnosis includes Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS), an autosomal recessive ciliopathy.

Randomised, controlled trial of N-acetylcysteine for treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [ISRCTN21676344].

Background: Prophylactic treatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for 3 months or more is associated with a reduction in the frequency of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This raises the question of whether treatment with NAC during an acute exacerbation will hasten recovery from the exacerbation.

Methods: We have examined this in a randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial.