Acta neurochirurgica
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1978
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in chronic pain after peripheral nerve injury.
Transcutaneous electrical stimulation was tested in 24 patients with chronic pain following a peripheral nerve injury in an extremity, in 10 patients with a good effect. All of these 10 patients displayed signs of increased sympathetic activity in addition to hyperalgesia. ⋯ Sympathetic block did not relieve the pain in this group. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation should be tried as an alternative to sympathectomy in causalgia major or minor.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1977
Influence of dorsal column stimulation (DCS) on spastic movement disorders.
Dorsal column stimulation in two spastic patients with upper motor neurone disease showed the following effects: 1. The subjective feeling of stiffness decreased. During DCS patients were able to walk longer distances without rest. 2. ⋯ The H-reflex amplitude was depressed in relation to intensity and duration of DC-stimulation up to 10 minutes after the end of DCS. 5. A late second facilitatory wave at 300 msec in the curve for H-reflexes conditioned by a short tibial stimulus was inhibited during DCS. Although the hyperexcitability of the H-reflex was dampened significantly during DCS the whole motor disturbance improved only slightly.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1977
Case ReportsIntracranial pulse pressure dynamics in patients with intracranial hypertension.
The pulsative inflow of blood to the brain causes fluctuations in the cerebral blood volume, and this is considered to be the main cause of the pulsations of the intracranial pressure (ICP). This statement allows discrimination between two different factors that influence the pulse amplitude of the ICP: 1. The pulsatile pattern of the cerebral arterial blood flow. 2. ⋯ The increase in the pulse amplitude due to a moderate increase in the ICP is mainly explained by the decrease of the intracranial compliance. However, it is recognized that, when the ICP approaches the arterial blood pressure, the ICP amplitude increases disproportionally with increasing ICP. In this situation the transmural pressure of the cerebral arteries approaches zero, and the compliance relevant to the arterial flow system is no longer that of the vessel wall but the compliance of the craniospinal compartment.
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Acta neurochirurgica · Jan 1977
Case ReportsThe surgical risk in the treatment of Arnold Chiari malformations.
The authors describe a series of 26 patients (28 operations) with Arnold Chiari malformations who were admitted during a 4 year period. In 20 the malformation was treated by direct surgery on the posterior fossa. ⋯ An analysis of the surgical risks of each procedure is given. In addition a helpful guide in the choice of the proper surgical procedure is outlined.