Acta neurochirurgica
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1996
A critical assessment of clinical diagnosis of disc herniation in patients with monoradicular sciatica.
The diagnostic power or clinical parameters in the diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation in patients with monoradicular pain was evaluated in a prospective study with a 100% verification of the diagnosis. Eighty patients with monoradicular pain corresponding to the fifth lumbar or the first sacral nerve root were included. Pre-operatively a number of clinical parameters were recorded and compared to the intra-operative finding of a disc herniation. ⋯ The level of the disc herniation was correctly predicted in 93% of these cases by the location of the pain alone or supplemented by neurological signs. Apart from radicularly distributed pain, all parameters in the present study and in the literature had no or low diagnostic accuracy. Thus, in patients with monoradicular sciatica further clinical parameters do not add to the diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1996
Results of DREZ coagulations for pain related to plexus lesions, spinal cord injuries and postherpetic neuralgia.
The results of 58 dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) thermocoagulation procedures in 51 patients are reported. The postoperative analgesic effect was judged by the patients as being good (more than 75% pain reduction), fair (25-75% pain reduction) or poor (less than 25% pain reduction). Of the 14 patients who underwent surgery for pain due to cervical root avulsion, 10 (77%) had permanently good (8) or fair (2) pain relief after a mean follow up period of 76 months, another 2 (15%) experienced recurrence to the preoperative level (initially 1 good, 1 fair) after more than 2 and 4 years, respectively. ⋯ Minor neurological deficits were noted in 9 cases (18%). DREZ lesions revealed to be an effective procedure in patients with pain related to root avulsion and paraplegia. In contrast, it seems to be less successful for painful states due to other plexus lesions or postherpetic neuralgia.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1996
Significance of intracranial pressure waveform analysis after head injury.
The authors have investigated the relationships between the amplitude of the ICP pulse wave, the mean values of ICP and CPP, and the outcome of 56 head injured ventilated patients. The ICP was monitored continuously using a Camino transducer (35 patients) or subdural catheter (21 patients). The mean Glasgow Coma Score was 6 (range 3-13; 5 patients had a GCS > 8 after resuscitation). ⋯ The RAP was significantly lower in patients who died or remained in the vegetative state. In 7 patients who died from uncontrollable intracranial hypertension RAP was oscillating or decreased to 0 or negative values well before brain-stem herniation. The combination of an ICP above 20 mmHg for a period longer than 6 hours with low correlation between the amplitude and pressure (RAP < 0.5) was described as an predictive index of an unfavourable outcome.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1996
Electrophysiological investigation of hemifacial spasm: F-waves of the facial muscles.
In patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS), the spasm is due to cross-compression of the facial nerve by a blood vessel. There are currently two hypotheses for the mechanism of HFS: 1) the spasm is caused by ephaptic transmission and an increase in excitability at the site of compression; and 2) the spasm is caused by hyperexcitability in the facial nerve nucleus. In peripheral nerves, F-waves, which result from the backfiring of antidromically activated anterior horn cells, have been proposed as indices of proximal motoneuron conduction and anterior horn cell excitability. ⋯ On the patient's spasm side, the F-wave duration, F/M amplitude ratio and frequency of F-wave appearance significantly increased compared with those of the normal side or healthy controls; minimum latency and chronodispersion did not significantly differ between these groups. In patients whose spasm disappeared completely following MVD, the abnormal muscle response (lateral spread), which is a characteristic sign of HFS, and the enhancement of the F-wave eventually also disappeared. Because of the correlation between HFS and F-waves, the authors' study supports the hypothesis that the cause of HFS is hyperexcitability of the facial motonucleus.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1996
Does nimodipine influence sex difference in outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage?
Before nimodipine was introduced as a standard treatment in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) females had a significantly poorer outcome which might be due to a higher frequency of delayed cerebral ischaemia (DCI). We evaluated the overall outcome with regard to gender in 188 consecutive patients with a verified ruptured intracranial aneurysm treated with nimodipine. ⋯ However, contrary to previous studies, we found no difference in overall outcome after three months between the sexes in this clinical material. Our observation can be explained by a positive effect of nimodipine on DCI.