A volumetric magnetic resonance imaging study of brain structures in children with Down syndrome.

Background And Purpose: Down syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation with deficits in language and memory. Mental retardation of varying degrees is the most consistent feature of DS. The objective of this study was to use high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to investigate the volumes of the hippocampus, amygdala, and temporal and frontal lobes in children with DS compared with healthy children.

Levetiracetam protects hippocampal neurons in culture against hypoxia-induced injury.

Many experimental studies indicate that some antiepileptic drugs possess neuroprotective properties in varied models of neuronal injury. Levetiracetam is a second-generation antiepileptic drug with a novel mechanism of action. In the present study, we evaluated the putative neuroprotective effect of levetiracetam on primary hippocampal cultures at seven day in vitro.

Anti-inflammatory plasma cytokines in children and adolescents with Down syndrome.

Cytokines participate in many physiological processes including the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses. Production of some important cytokines in children with Down syndrome (DS) is depressed or increased. In this study we analysed the selected anti- inflammatory cytokines: interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-13 (IL-13) in plasma of children and adolescents with DS.

Amino acid metabolic processes in the temporal lobes assessed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) in children with Down syndrome.

Down syndrome (DS), or trisomy 21, is one of the most common autosomal mutations. The overexpression of the β-amyloid precursor protein gene, located on chromosome 21, causes an increased production of the specific amyloid. The current study is a continuation of our earlier investigations relating to the profile of metabolic changes in the frontal lobes of DS patients as assessed by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS).

Somatosensory evoked potentials in epileptic children treated with carbamazepine or valproate in monotherapy - a preliminary study.

Purpose: Data from the literature suggest that long-term therapy with various antiepileptic drugs can be responsible for the functional disturbances within the nervous system e.g. peripheral neuropathy and encephalopathy.

Anti-inflammatory plasma cytokines in children and adolescents with migraine headaches.

Studies have shown fluctuations of cytokine levels in patients with migraine headaches; however, further studies are needed to verify these results. Our previous studies suggest increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1alpha, sTNF-RI and TNF-alpha, in children with migraine headaches. In this study, we analyzed anti-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) in plasma from children and adolescents with migraine and tension-type headaches during the interictal period.

Somatosensory evoked potentials in children with migraine with aura and without aura.

Background: The Interictal abnormalities of cerebral information processing in migraine were found by studying different modality-specific evoked and event related potentials, mostly visual and auditory. In this study we focused on short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) in children and adolescents suffering from migraine with and without aura.

Material And Methods: The study group consisted 111 of children and adolescents at the age of 7-18 years: 27 of them suffered from migraine with aura, 36 of them suffered from migraine without aura, 48 subjects have episodic tension-type headache.

Clinical and EEG features of epilepsy in children and adolescents in Down syndrome.

Epilepsy is rarely considered as a major component of Down syndrome. We evaluated the prevalence of epileptic seizures in 252 (97 girls and 155 boys) children and adolescents with Down syndrome evaluated at Department of Pediatric Neurology between 1994 and 2007. Results showed that 15 (6%) patients had epileptic seizures: 8 partial seizures; 1 infantile spasms, 1 Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and 5 generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

An age and gender dependency of metabolite concentrations in basal ganglia in children with spastic diplegia: proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

We determined metabolite profile in spastic diplegic children compared to controls in left basal ganglia of brain in using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in correlation with age and gender. Twenty-four patients with spastic diplegia and twenty-six healthy children were examined. The relative concentrations of N-acetylaspartate, choline, and myoinositol were measured in relation to creatine and different combinations of metabolites within 8-cm(3) brain voxel.

Serum and intraerythrocyte antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxides in children with migraine.

The oxidant-antioxidant balance disorders underlie a number of acute and chronic diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). It is believed that oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of migraine. The study objective was to assess the processes of lipid peroxidation with malondialdehyde (MDA) as its major indicator and to determine the activities of antioxidant enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and glutathione reductase (GSSG-R) in the serum and erythrocytes of patients at developmental age with migraine with and without aura.

Low back pain in school-age children: risk factors, clinical features and diagnostic managment.

Purpose: Low back pain (LBP) is common in adult population, and it is becoming a serious health concern in adolescents. On surveys, about every fifth child in the school-age reports LBP. The study objective was to analysis the natural history, risk factors, clinical symptoms, causes and diagnostic management in school-age children hospitalized with LBP.

Clinical-electroencephalographic analysis of brain bioelectrical activity in children with myelomeningocele and internal hydrocephalus.

Purpose: The aim of the current study was the clinical and electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis of the brain bioelectrical activity in patients with myelomeningocele and internal hydrocephalus.

Material And Methods: The present study included 86 children (44 boys and 42 girls) with myelomeningocele. The children were aged 1-17 years (mean 7 +/- 4.

Brain metabolic profile obtained by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy HMRS in children with Down syndrome.

Purpose: Down syndrome (DS), or trisomia 21, is one of the most common autosomal mutations, with mental impairment as the constant symptom. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS) allows evaluation of this metabolism in DS children. The study objective was the morphological evaluation of the brain in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and assessment of the metabolic profile obtained by HMRS in children with DS.

Spastic cerebral palsy: clinical magnetic resonance imaging correlation of 129 children.

A prospective study was undertaken of 129 children with spastic cerebral palsy to clarify the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and clinical features of cerebral palsy. Low birth weight, asphyxia, prematurity, seizures, mental development, Gross Motor Function Classification System, and MRI findings were analyzed. Significant abnormalities relevant to the cerebral palsy were evident on imaging in 123 (95.

Evaluation of the influence of antiepileptic therapy on antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes of children with epilepsy.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of antiepileptic therapy on antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation in the erythrocytes of children with epilepsy. For this purpose, the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase and the malondialdehyde concentration in 61 healthy children and 90 children with epilepsy were measured. The activities of all of these enzymes were insignificantly higher, whereas the malondialdehyde concentration was significantly lower in the patients treated with carbamazepine monotherapy.

Metabolite profile in the basal ganglia of children with cerebral palsy: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study.

This prospective study determined metabolite profile in the left and right basal ganglia of children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) compared with children without disabilities, by using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS). Twenty-three patients with spastic CP (12 males, 11 females; mean age 11y 9mo [SD 4y 2mo], range 4-17y) were examined. Twenty children had spastic diplegia and three had quadriplegia.

A comparative study of vigabatrin vs. carbamazepine in monotherapy of newly diagnosed partial seizures in children.

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a drug of choice for the treatment of simple or complex partial seizures and secondary generalized seizures in adults and children. Vigabatrin (VGB) is a relatively new second line antiepileptic drug and was first registered for use in Poland more than ten years ago. Few reports have been published on the comparison of efficacy of VGB in children with epilepsy.

The cortical evoked potentials in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).

Purpose: Evoked potentials were recorded in patients with DCD to evaluate the integrity the afferent pathways and to rule out the presence of any neurological lesions.

Material And Methods: Two boys: 5 and 16 years old with recognized DCD were examined. Battery of tests: short-latency somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP), pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (VEP), cognitive event-related potentials (CERP) and EEG were recorded.

Neurophysiologic studies of brain plasticity in children with cerebral palsy.

The mechanisms of brain plasticity include: a change in the balance of excitation and inhibition; a long-term potentiation or long-term depression; a change in neuronal membrane excitability; the anatomical changes-formation of new axon terminals and new synapses. There are few tools for brain plasticity investigations. The utility of the neurophysiologic in the determination of brain reorganization and repair in patients with cerebral palsy (CP) are described.

Quantitative EEG analysis of REM sleep in children with Down syndrome.

Purpose: The aim was to compare quantitative EEG analysis of REM sleep in children with Down syndrome (DS) and normal age-matched controls.

Material And Methods: Twenty-one channel EEG of 21 patients with Down syndrome and 21 normal children, with ages ranging from 1 to 8 years, were submitted to quantitative analysis EEG of discharge-free epochs. The signals were recorded using a set of 17 (F3, F4, F7, F8, Fz, C3, C4, Cz, P3, P4, Pz, O1, O2, T3, T4, T5, T6) scalp electrodes.

A comparison of spastic diplegic and tetraplegic cerebral palsy.

The aim of this study was to compare spastic diplegic and tetraplegic cerebral palsy. Thirty-eight children had spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and 48 spastic tetraplegic cerebral palsy. Risk factors of cerebral palsy, seizures, severity of cerebral palsy, electroencephalogram, and magnetic resonance imaging findings were analyzed.

A multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind study of efficacy of a new form of carbamazepine (Carbatrol) in refractory epileptic patients.

Carbatrol (CBR) is a new multiple-unit, sustained-release dosage form of carbamazepine (CBZ) developed by Pharmavene. We present a multicenter, outpatient, randomized, double-blind parallel group study (No PI 101) carried out in two centers in Poland. CBR was evaluated in 47 patients with uncontrolled partial onset seizures.

[Auditory cognitive event-related potentials in migraine with and without aura in children and adolescents].

Background And Purpose: Cognitive Event-Related Potentials (CERP) reflect sensory information processing: cognitive function and early memory. Studies of CERP in adult migraneurs yielded contradictory results. The aim of our study was to evaluate CERP in children and adolescents with migraine with and without aura during the interictal period.

[Current data on interferon therapy of multiple sclerosis in patients at developmental age].

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a rare disorder of the central nervous system in children. In spite of the investigations of the last decade its etiology has not been established. The authors of the paper presented data on the specific nature of children MS using the current literature.

The pattern--reversal visual evoked potentials in children with migraine with aura and without aura.

Purpose: Studies of the visual evoked potentials (VEP) in migraine have yielded contradictory results. Several investigators suggested that VEP may be helpful test in diagnosis of a child with headache. The aim of our study was to compare interictal pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (PR-VEP) in children and adolescents with migraine and tension-type headaches and to evaluate VEP parameters in migraine with and without aura.