Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Feb 2006
Case ReportsDyskinesias induced by subthalamotomy in Parkinson's disease are unresponsive to amantadine.
Dyskinesias are a transient but severe complication of subthalamotomy in some patients. ⋯ The present findings suggest that: (i) amantadine probably exerts its anti-dyskinetic effect by acting on the "indirect" pathway; (ii) the pathophysiological mechanisms of subthalamotomy induced dyskinesias may differ from those involved in L-dopa induced dyskinesias; (iii) dyskinesias induced by STN surgery resolve spontaneously as compensatory mechanisms develop.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Feb 2006
Malformation risks of antiepileptic drugs in pregnancy: a prospective study from the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Register.
To assess the relative risk of major congenital malformation (MCM) from in utero exposure to antiepileptic drug (AEDs). ⋯ Only 4.2% of live births to women with epilepsy had an MCM. The MCM rate for polytherapy exposure was greater than for monotherapy exposure. Polytherapy regimens containing valproate had significantly more MCMs than those not containing valproate. For monotherapy exposures, carbamazepine was associated with the lowest risk of MCM.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Feb 2006
Cognition in the days following concussion: comparison of symptomatic versus asymptomatic athletes.
Concussion is a common neurological injury occurring during contact sport. Current guidelines recommend that no athlete should return to play while symptomatic or displaying cognitive dysfunction. This study compared post-concussion cognitive function in recently concussed athletes who were symptomatic/asymptomatic at the time of assessment with that of non-injured (control) athletes. ⋯ Injured athletes experiencing symptoms of concussion displayed impaired motor function and attention, although their learning and memory were preserved. These athletes displayed no change in performance on paper and pencil tests in contrast with the improvement observed in asymptomatic and non-injured athletes. Athletes experiencing symptoms of concussion should be withheld from training and competition until both symptoms and cognitive dysfunction have resolved.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Feb 2006
Comparative StudySerum glial fibrillary acidic protein as a biomarker for intracerebral haemorrhage in patients with acute stroke.
Biomarkers of stroke are an evolving field of clinical research. A serum marker which can differentiate between haemorrhagic and ischaemic stroke in the very early phase would help to optimise acute stroke management. ⋯ Serum GFAP can reliably detect ICH in the acute phase of stroke. Further evaluation of the usefulness of GFAP as an early diagnostic marker of ICH is now required, with the aim of optimising cause specific emergency management.
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J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. · Feb 2006
Laing early onset distal myopathy: slow myosin defect with variable abnormalities on muscle biopsy.
Laing early onset distal myopathy (MPD1) is an autosomal dominant myopathy caused by mutations within the slow skeletal muscle fibre myosin heavy chain gene, MYH7. It is allelic with myosin storage myopathy, with the commonest form of familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and with one form of dilated cardiomyopathy. However, the clinical picture of MPD1 is distinct from these three conditions. ⋯ The pathological findings in MPD1 are variable and appear to be affected by factors such as the specific muscle biopsied, the age of the patient at biopsy, and the duration of disease manifestations.