Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and enteral nutrition in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Bulbar involvement in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is often related to a worse prognosis on account of the higher risk of pulmonary aspiration and undernutrition due to dysphagia. The aim of our study was to assess the effects of enteral feeding by percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) in a long-term follow-up of ALS patients. We report the results of PEG in 31 ALS patients with bulbar involvement.

Relation between age, left ventricular mass and ventricular arrhythmias in patients with hypertension.

To evaluate the effect of age on left ventricular hypertrophy-related arrhythmias in patients with essential arterial hypertension, 68 hypertensives (47 men and 21 women, mean age 59.4 +/- 9.5 years) without other cardiovascular disorders were studied.

Left ventricular diastolic filling in elderly hypertensive patients.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of mild to moderate hypertension and of LVH on diastolic filling and other Doppler indices in the elderly.

Design: Survey with a control group.

Subjects: Seventy-one hypertensives (34 men, 37 women) referred for echocardiograms and 32 age- and sex-matched normotensive volunteers.

Home mechanical ventilation in kyphoscoliosis.

The aim of the study was to determine whether intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV), delivered either by nasal mask or by tracheostomy, is able to improve alveolar gas exchange in kyphoscoliotic patients with respiratory failure. We evaluated 17 patients, 10 females and 7 males, aged 52 +/- 12 (mean +/- SD) yrs. Eight had severe respiratory failure (arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) 53.

Propionyl-L-carnitine: a new compound in the metabolic approach to the treatment of effort angina.

The effects of propionyl-L-carnitine on exercise tolerance of 12 patients with stable exertional angina were assessed in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over protocol using serial exercise tests. Compared to placebo, propionyl-L-carnitine significantly increased total work from 514 +/- 199 to 600 +/- 209 W (P less than 0.05) (17%) and prolonged exercise time and time to ischemic threshold from 515 +/- 115 to 565 +/- 109 sec (P less than 0.

Methylbromide intoxication: a case report.

This work focuses on the neurophysiological features in a patient with action myoclonus and mental deterioration following methylbromide intoxication. The patient is a 28-year-old man, without respiratory distress or exposure to other toxics. Myoclonus improved with polytherapy (clonazepam, 5-HT, carbidopa, GABA).

Ticlopidine treatment for patients with unstable angina at rest. A further analysis of the study of ticlopidine in unstable angina. Studio della Ticlopidina nell'Angina Instabile Group.

Data collected to investigate the effects of ticlopidine in a subset of 489 patients with angina at rest accompanied by transient ischaemic electrocardiographic changes have been analysed. Of the 489 patients, 255 received conventional treatment including beta-blockers, nitrates, or calcium antagonists (control group); 234 received conventional treatment plus ticlopidine 250 mg b.i.

Evaluation of pentisomide on stable ventricular premature beats. Comparison with placebo.

Pentisomide, a new class I anti-arrhythmic drug, was compared to placebo in 50 hospitalized patients with frequent (greater than 30 h-1) and stable ventricular premature beats (VPB) (variation less than 50% between two preliminary and one placebo 24-h Holter recordings). All patients underwent a single-dose acute oral testing followed by a short-term testing with 300 mg t.i.

Psychophysiological stress testing in postinfarction patients. Psychological correlates of cardiovascular arousal and abnormal cardiac responses.

The psychophysiological responses to two mental stress tests (mental arithmetic and an interactive concentration task) were assessed in 168 unmedicated, male, postinfarction patients 36-69 years old. Patients also completed a standard battery of psychological tests. Psychophysiological responses were generally unrelated to age and education.

Acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2) activity in alveolar macrophages from patients with active sarcoidosis.

Five main acid phosphatase (AcP) zones have been recognized and studied by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. Band 5 represents the only tartrate-resistant form and is present in bone osteoclasts and in human alveolar macrophages (AMs). This study was carried out to quantify the presence of total and tartrate-resistant AcP (TrAcP) in AMs from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of 11 patients with first stage sarcoidosis and in 13 nonsmokers and 16 smokers serving as control healthy subjects.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a possible example of autosomal recessive inheritance.

A family is reported in which three out of four siblings of a consanguineous healthy couple developed adult onset Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). All patients showed a similar clinical course with regard to disease progression and absence of cognitive deterioration. Laboratory findings included modification of Spinal Evoked Potential (SEP) and normal value of thiamine and thiamine monophosphate in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

A computerized approach to cognitive behavioural assessment: an introduction to CBA-2.0 primary scales.

The Cognitive Behavioural Assessment-2.0 (CBA-2.0) Primary Scales is an automated assessment package investigating the cognitive-verbal response system.

Heparin in acute myocardial infarction.

Thrombolytic therapy has become an established procedure in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the aftercare of such patients is still uncertain. A meta-analysis of twenty trials of intravenous or subcutaneous heparin in AMI performed during the prethrombolysis period indicated a significant reduction in mortality, reinfarction, and stroke in treated patients.

Psychosocial responses to disease stimuli: preliminary findings.

In the present study cognitive-verbal differences are evaluated in chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD) patients. Nineteen subjects with chronic respiratory failure (CRF) and sixty subjects without CRF completed two psychometric instruments: CBA-2.0 primary scales and the respiratory illness opinion survey.

Objective evaluation of gallopamil in patients with chronic stable angina. Exercise testing, Holter monitoring, cross-sectional echocardiography and plasma levels.

In this double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled study the effects of two dosages of gallopamil on exercise tolerance were evaluated in 12 patients with stable effort angina. After a pre-study screening aimed at assessing the reproducibility of the exercise response, the patients entered the study which consisted of three 7-day consecutive periods during which placebo or gallopamil 50 mg t.i.

Selective visual attention in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients: memory- and data-driven control.

An automated visual search experiment was carried out on patients with incipient Alzheimer's disease, non-demented Parkinsonians and healthy controls to test for selective attention control within the framework of the Norman and Bobrow (1975) model. The performances of the Parkinsonians and healthy controls were consistent with the predictions of this model but those of the Alzheimer patients were not. These patients appeared to be no longer sensitive to the facilitation supplied by the stimulus context and to spend most of their residual resources on achieving accuracy.