Evaluation of autonomic malfunction in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Objective: The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in urinary disturbance which is one of the main symptoms of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH); thus, the focus of the present study was to identify the autonomic function parameters that would be useful as clinical indicators of iNPH.

Methods: The subjects consisted of 18 iNPH patients (group N) and 31 normal controls (group C). Before and after a lumbar puncture test, they were examined for CVR-R and total heart rate.

Retrograde jugular flow associated with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

To clarify the relation between the drainage pathway of cerebrospinal fluid and the development of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH), we examined flow patterns of internal jugular veins in 20 patients with iNPH and 13 control patients using air-contrast ultrasound venography during the Valsalva maneuver. The iNPH group had a significantly greater frequency of retrograde jugular venous flow (19/20, 95%) than the control group (3/13, 23%) (chi(2) test, p < 0.001).

Preferred involvement of the basal ganglia after lenticulostriate infarction as a possible indicator of different gray and white matter vulnerability.

Background And Purpose: Symptomatic progression is frequently observed in lacunar infarcts. The exact mechanisms of this phenomenon have not yet been clarified.

Summary Of Cases: We report 2 patients with lenticulostriate artery infarcts that presented with skip lesions that were restricted to gray matter.

[A case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis presenting as motor aphasia in its early stage].

A 76-year-old right-handed woman complained of speech disturbance and difficulity of singing was admitted to our hospital. Examination showed motor aphasia and mild cognitive impairment. After she was discharged, dementia and weakness of the extremities had rapidly progressed.

Comparison of transcranial brain tissue perfusion images between ultraharmonic, second harmonic, and power harmonic imaging.

Background And Purpose: To clarify optimal brain tissue perfusion images visualized by transcranial ultrasound harmonic imaging, we compared gray-scale integrated backscatter (IBS) images of new ultraharmonic imaging (UHI) and conventional second harmonic imaging (SHI) with power harmonic imaging (PHI) (harmonic B-mode with harmonic power Doppler images) in 10 patients with and 4 without a temporal skull.

Methods: Using a SONOS 5500 (Philips), we evaluated transient response images taken after a bolus Levovist injection at a horizontal diencephalic plane via temporal windows. Based on transmitting/receiving frequencies (MHz), 4 imaging procedures using an S3 transducer (SHI2.