Brain-specific fatty acid-binding protein is elevated in serum of patients with dementia-related diseases.

Background: There is a need for biomarkers in accessible matrices, such as blood, for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of this study was to measure the serum levels of brain-type fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) and heart-type FABP in patients with dementia-involving diseases.

Methods: Brain- and heart-type FABP were measured in serum samples from patients with either Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n = 31), Parkinson's disease (PD, n = 43), or other cognitive disorders (OCD, n = 42) and in 52 healthy controls.

Diagnostic value of 123I-ioflupane and 123I-iodobenzamide SPECT scans in 248 patients with parkinsonian syndromes.

Background: SPECT is one of the most employed techniques in the diagnostic workup of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD). Despite its widespread use, the exact diagnostic accuracy of this technique in parkinsonian syndromes remains controversial.

Methods: In this study, we investigated the diagnostic accuracy of an initial (123)I-ioflupane (FP-CIT) and/or (123)I-iodobenzamide (IBZM) SPECT to differentiate between IPD and other parkinsonian disorders.

Prevalence of primitive reflexes and the relationship with cognitive change in healthy adults: a report from the Maastricht Aging Study.

Objectives: Primitive reflexes (PR) generally disappear early in life but may reappear later, in which case they are often associated with chronic neurological conditions, such as dementia or Parkinson's disease. Studies have shown that the presence of PRs may be indicative of both the severity and rate of progression of these diseases and may be the result of disinhibition of cortical networks. The association between PRs and cognitive function in usual ageing is unclear.

The serotonergic hypothesis for depression in Parkinson's disease: an experimental approach.

The serotonergic hypothesis for depression in Parkinson's disease (PD) states that the reduced cerebral serotonergic activity that occurs in PD constitutes a biological risk factor for depression. The aim of our study was to assess the serotonergic hypothesis of depression in PD patients using an experimental approach. In a double-blind, randomized order, placebo-controlled crossover design, the response on the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire to acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) was studied in 15 PD nondepressed patients and 15 control subjects, without a prior personal or family history of depression.

Homocysteine in relation to cognitive performance in pathological and non-pathological conditions.

Elevated serum homocysteine has been associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, elevated homocysteine levels are related to cognitive dysfunction in the elderly. The aim of the present study was to explore the disease specificity of the relation between serum total homocysteine levels and cognitive function.

Chronic bilateral thalamic stimulation: a new therapeutic approach in intractable Tourette syndrome. Report of three cases.

Based on the results of thalamotomies described by Hassler in 1970, the authors performed bilateral thalamic high-frequency stimulation (HFS) in three patients with intractable Tourette syndrome (TS). In this report they describe the long-term effects. Three male patients (42, 28, and 45 years of age) had manifested motor and vocal tics since early childhood.

Combination of serum markers related to several mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) probably involves several pathobiochemical mechanisms and this may be reflected by changes in different serum components. The present study investigated whether the combined analysis of serum molecules related to different mechanisms improves the discrimination of AD patients from healthy controls. Serum of patients with AD was analyzed for a broad spectrum of marker molecules, including 11 inflammatory proteins, 12 sterol intermediates and phytosterols, 2 brain-specific proteins and 4 constituents involved in homocysteine homeostasis.

Een zeldzame oorzaak van dementie: de bestralingsencephalopathie.

We describe the clinical history of a 49-year old woman, who demonstrated progressive personality changes more than twenty years after radiation of a pituitary adenoma (prolactinoma), with apathy, loss of initiative, memory deficits, postural instability, dysarthria and faecal incontinence. Neuropsychological assessment showed impulsivity, loss of overview, desinhibition, fluctuating deficits of attention, and memory disturbances. MRI-scanning of the brain revealed a cystic lesion along the right ventricle.

Stroke and idiopathic Parkinson's disease: does a shortage of dopamine offer protection against stroke?

Data on the relationship between idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD) and stroke are conflicting. In this study, we examined the frequency of IPD in stroke patients registered in the Maastricht Stroke Registry. With the use of three different search strategies, we found eight individuals with IPD amongst a total of 1,516 stroke patients.

[Successful treatment of depression in a Parkinson disease patient with bupropion].

A 70-year-old female patient with Parkinson's disease was admitted to hospital with a medication-resistant depression. Electroconvulsion therapy was considered indicated, but it was decided to try treatment with bupropion chloride first. This resulted in a quick and complete remission of depressive symptoms, without any negative effects on motor symptoms.

The role of serotonin in Parkinsons' Disease: An integrated approach for research of motor, cognitive and affective symptoms with functional intervention studies.

Serotonin seems to play an important role in the regulation of dopaminergic and cholinergic neurotransmitter activities. In patients with Parkinsons' Disease, serotonergic activity is generally reduced, which is considered a compensating mechanism for the reduced dopaminergic activity. At the same time, reduction of serotonin activity may play a role in the expression of cognitive and affective symptoms.

Primitive reflexes in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Data on the prevalence and clinical value of primitive reflexes (PRs) in dementia are controversial, mainly due to a lack of standardization of the methods by which these signs are elicited and scored. A standardized protocol was used to investigate eight PRs in 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 20 patients with vascular dementia (VD), and 20 control subjects for each group. Both patient groups showed considerably more PRs than the control groups.

Primitive reflexes in Parkinson's disease.

A standardised protocol for the examination of 15 primitive reflexes in which the amplitude and the persistence were scored separately, was applied to 25 patients with Parkinson's disease and an equal number of healthy matched control subjects. Most reflexes were found considerably more often in the patients than in the control subjects, especially the snout, the glabellar tap, and its variant, the nasopalpebral reflex. Only the mouth open finger spread reflex was present more often in the control subjects.

Primitive reflexes in healthy, adult volunteers and neurological patients: methodological issues.

A study was made to determine whether two experienced clinicians elicited and scored primitive reflexes (PR) differently and whether reliability could be improved by standardization. Three studies were carried out, using a protocol for the examination of 14 PR. In the first study with 31 healthy young subjects, two investigators found virtually no difference in the routine neurological examination.

Stroop interference: aging effects assessed with the Stroop Color-Word Test.

A large, cross-sectional aging investigation of performance on the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT) was carried out. Subjects were 247 volunteers, ages 20-80 in seven age levels. Although all subjects thought themselves to be normal and healthy, a post hoc division could be made on the basis of biological life events (BLE).

[Psychiatric disorders in patients of a memory outpatient clinic].

Objective: To determine whether psychiatric conditions other than depression are relevant in elder patients with memory disturbances.

Methods: 430 consecutive outpatients (242 males, 188 females; mean age 61.7 years) who visited the Maastricht Memory Clinic were examined, according to a standardised diagnostic procedure, including somatic, neurological, psychiatric and neuropsychological examination.

Diagnosing dementia: a comparison between a monodisciplinary and a multidisciplinary approach.

Discrepancies were examined in diagnostic outcome between a monodisciplinary approach and a multidisciplinary, criteria-based approach in patients referred to a university memory clinic. Of 278 patients not fulfilling dementia criteria, 19 had been previously diagnosed as demented (specificity: 0.93).

Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis The case-histories of two patients are presented with Amyo-trofic Lateral Sclerosis and dementia (ALS-D), followed by a discussion of recent literature on this topic. This condition can be considered as the interface between non-Alzheimer frontal lobe dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The nosological classification of the ALS-D complex has not been established yet.

Rigorous health screening reduces age effect on memory scanning task.

Eighty subjects participated in a study with five age groups (20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 years). Forty subjects showed evidence of factors related to brain dysfunction (risk factors). Their performance on a Sternberg-type memory scanning task was assessed.

Successful treatment of tuberculous brain abscess.

A case of tuberculous brain abscess occurred in spite of 4 months' treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with a triple drug anti-tuberculous regimen. Surgical removal and further chemotherapy were successful.

Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms presenting as radicular compression syndromes.

Two patients are described: one with an aneurysm of the infrarenal aorta and common iliac artery that ruptured posteriorly into the iliac vein, the other with an aneurysm of the distal abdominal aorta that ruptured posteriorly into the iliopsoas muscle. Both patients had symptoms compatible with a radicular compression syndrome. Ruptured aneurysm of one of the major abdominal arteries should be considered in the differential diagnosis of affections of the lumbosacral neural outflow, because immediate operation can be life-saving.