Shoulder pain and an isolated teres minor nerve lesion.

The finding of isolated teres minor denervation during examination of the shoulders using MRI occurs in 3% to 5.5% of examinations. We describe eight patients with shoulder pain, in whom electromyography revealed an isolated lesion in the motor branch of the axillary nerve to the teres minor muscle.

Pharyngeal airway in children with sleep-disordered breathing in relation to head posture.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the pharyngeal airway size in different cranio-cervical postures in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and asymptomatic control children. We tested the hypothesis that the site of the most constricted pharyngeal airway in SDB children is not affected by head posture.

Methods: The study group comprised 29 children (14 boys, 15 girls, mean age 7.

Evaluation of Heart Rate Variation Analysis during Rest and Tilting in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Objective. To evaluate spectral heart rate (HR) variation using short-term ECG recordings at rest and during the tilt table test. Methods.

Validity of upper airway assessment in children: a clinical, cephalometric, and MRI study.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the capability of two-dimensional lateral cephalogram in recognizing pharyngeal obstruction is poor compared with the capability of three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical observation of tonsillar size.

Materials And Methods: The study participants were 36 prepubertal children (19 male, 17 female; mean age 7.3 ± 1.

Lack of collagen XV impairs peripheral nerve maturation and, when combined with laminin-411 deficiency, leads to basement membrane abnormalities and sensorimotor dysfunction.

Although the Schwann cell basement membrane (BM) is required for normal Schwann cell terminal differentiation, the role of BM-associated collagens in peripheral nerve maturation is poorly understood. Collagen XV is a BM zone component strongly expressed in peripheral nerves, and we show that its absence in mice leads to loosely packed axons in C-fibers and polyaxonal myelination. The simultaneous lack of collagen XV and another peripheral nerve component affecting myelination, laminin α4, leads to severely impaired radial sorting and myelination, and the maturation of the nerve is permanently compromised, contrasting with the slow repair observed in Lama4-/- single knock-out mice.

[Damage of teres minor branch of axillary nerve].

Atrophy demarcating to musculus teres minor is seen in magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder region in 3 to 5.5% of investigations. We describe seven patients with prolonged or recurrent pain of the shoulder region, who were diagnosed in ENMG with damage of the axillary nerve brand to m.

Atypical perceptual narrowing in prematurely born infants is associated with compromised language acquisition at 2 years of age.

Background: Early auditory experiences are a prerequisite for speech and language acquisition. In healthy children, phoneme discrimination abilities improve for native and degrade for unfamiliar, socially irrelevant phoneme contrasts between 6 and 12 months of age as the brain tunes itself to, and specializes in the native spoken language. This process is known as perceptual narrowing, and has been found to predict normal native language acquisition.

Cephalometric evaluation of children with nocturnal sleep-disordered breathing.

The present study aimed to assess the cephalometric features in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). The subjects were 70 children (34 boys and 36 girls, mean age 7.3, SD 1.

Sudomotor dysfunction in patients with optic neuritis.

Objectives: Optic neuritis (ON) is a frequent initial manifestation of multiple sclerosis (MS). Autonomic failure affecting the pupillary function is known to exist in ON patients, and patients with MS are known to have more widespread autonomic dysfunction. For example, sudomotor dysfunction is well known in MS.

Apparent diffusion coefficient on magnetic resonance imaging in pons and in corona radiata and relation with the neurophysiologic measurement and the outcome in very preterm infants.

Background: New imaging techniques allow a detailed visualization of the brain and the findings possibly correlate with neurophysiologic measurements and neurosensory and motor outcomes. Postnatal clinical factors known to associate with neurologic disabilities may contribute to brain abnormalities not visible to the naked eye.

Objectives: We evaluated whether quantitative measurement of organized water diffusion on MR imaging, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), relates to neurophysiologic function and to clinical risk factors and motor outcome in preterm infants.

Dental arch morphology in children with sleep-disordered breathing.

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of nocturnal breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and snoring on developing dental arches. The study group comprised 41 children (22 males, 19 females, mean age 7.2 years, standard deviation 1.

Reproductive endocrine function in women with epilepsy: the role of epilepsy type and medication.

The purpose of the analysis described here was to assess reproductive endocrine disorders in 148 women with epilepsy (WWE) by epilepsy type and antiepileptic drug use. Women with idiopathic generalized epilepsy had a higher prevalence of reproductive endocrine disorders than control subjects. In addition, hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovaries, and polycystic ovary syndrome were more prevalent in WWE on valproate than in WWE taking other drugs or control women.

Cardiovascular regulation and hippocampal sclerosis.

Purpose: Cardiovascular dysregulation has been detected in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) by using cardiovascular reflex tests and analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). The two methods have not previously been used in the same study to compare them in the assessment of cardioregulatory function. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered the best method to reveal structural changes such as hippocampal sclerosis associated with TLE.

Muscle computed tomography patterns in patients with the mitochondrial DNA mutation 3243A>G.

Computed tomography provides a sensitive method for investigating skeletal muscle changes in neuromuscular diseases, but this method has not been applied to mitochondrial myopathies. We characterized the pattern of muscle involvement in patients with the 3243A>G mutation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the common MELAS (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes) mutation. Twenty-four patients, age 19-73 years, with 3243A>G were examined.

Nocturnal cardiac autonomic regulation in Parkinson's disease.

Diminished heart rate (HR) variability has been reported in patients with early phase Parkinson's disease (PD) using standardized cardiovascular reflex tests. However, limited data exist on HR variability during sleep; thus the present study was performed to investigate the characteristics of HR variability during different sleep stages. The HR variability of 21 newly diagnosed and untreated PD patients and of 22 control subjects was evaluated by using time domain, frequency domain and non-linear methods and by analyzing HR reactions to body movements during the different sleep stages (non-REM stages S1-4 and the REM stage).

Neurological diseases and accidental falls of the aged.

Objective: To assess the influence of central and peripheral neurological diseases on the incidence of accidental falls of the aged.

Design: 1. Case-control study with cross-section at two years and 2.

Peripheral neuropathy in patients with the 3243A>G mutation in mitochondrial DNA.

Peripheral neuropathy is one of the clinical manifestations of the MELAS (mitochondrial encephalopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes) syndrome, but its frequency and phenotypic variability have not been properly characterised. We therefore studied the clinical and electrophysiological features of peripheral neuropathy in 32 patients with the 3243A > G mutation in mitochondrial DNA by using clinical examination, assessment of Neuropathy Symptom Score, Neuropathy Disability Score, and electrophysiological examinations. Seven patients (22 %; 95 % confidence interval, 9-40 %) fulfilled the electrodiagnostic criteria for polyneuropathy.

Brainstem auditory-evoked potentials of 8-year-old preterm children in relation to their psycholinguistic abilities and MRI findings.

Background: Brainstem auditory potential (BAEP) has been used to demonstrate brainstem damage and to provide prognosis for the outcome for newborn children. There are contradictory results of its power to predict problems in language development or problems at school. It is well known that preterm children experience an excess of these problems.

Motor nervous system impairment persists in long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: The objective of the current study was to determine whether therapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) results in long-lasting neurologic signs or electrophysiologic injuries within the motor tracts.

Methods: Twenty-seven children who were treated for ALL were studied clinically 5 years after the cessation of therapy by means of motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by magnetic stimulation transcranially and peripherally. An equal number of healthy children matched with regard to age, gender, and height served as the control group.

Growth and biochemical markers of growth in children with snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective: The pathophysiological mechanisms of growth impairment frequently associated with the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in children are poorly defined. The main objective of this study was to evaluate whether nighttime upper airway obstruction attributable to adenotonsillar hypertrophy and subsequent surgical treatment affect the circulating concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) along with other growth parameters in children.

Patients And Methods: We initially studied 70 children (mean age: 5.