Neurology
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Barbiturates are administered in a variety of clinical conditions to control elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). However, their routine use to treat elevated ICP has been questioned because it may cause severe side effects. We therefore investigated the effect of high-dose barbiturate therapy on ICP and outcome in patients with severe brain edema after severe middle cerebral artery (MCA) or hemispheric infarction. ⋯ Severe side effects of barbiturate therapy, besides arterial hypotension, were seen in 15 patients (25%). Barbiturate coma in the therapy of increased ICP after severe ischemic hemispheric stroke can lower critically elevated ICP levels. However, it seems to have no positive effect on neurologic outcome.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
High-dose oral dextromethorphan versus placebo in painful diabetic neuropathy and postherpetic neuralgia.
N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists relieve neuropathic pain in animal models, but side effects of dissociative anesthetic channel blockers, such as ketamine, have discouraged clinical application. Based on the hypothesis that low-affinity NMDA channel blockers might have a better therapeutic ratio, we carried out two randomized, double-blind, crossover trials comparing six weeks of oral dextromethorphan to placebo in two groups, made up of 14 patients with painful distal symmetrical diabetic neuropathy and 18 with postherpetic neuralgia. Thirteen patients with each diagnosis completed the comparison. ⋯ In postherpetic neuralgia, dextromethorphan did not reduce pain (95% CI: 10% decrease in pain to 14% increase in pain, p = 0.72). Five of 31 patients who took dextromethorphan dropped out due to sedation or ataxia during dose escalation, but the remaining patients all reached a reasonably well-tolerated maintenance dose. We conclude that dextromethorphan or other low-affinity NMDA channel blockers may have promise in the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy.
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We retrospectively reviewed the hospital records of 53 patients admitted for 73 episodes of myasthenic crisis at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center over a period of 12 years, from 1983 to 1994. Median age at the onset of first crisis was 55 (range, 20 to 82), the ratio of women to men was 2:1, and the median interval from onset of symptoms to first crisis was 8 months. Infection (usually pneumonia or upper respiratory infection) was the most common precipitating factor (38%), followed by no obvious cause (30%) and aspiration (10%). ⋯ All seven deaths were due to overwhelming medical comorbidity. Over half of those who survived were functionally dependent (home or institutionalized) at discharge. In addition to prospective controlled studies of immunotherapies, the prevention and treatment of medical complications offers the best opportunity for further improving the outcome of myasthenic crisis.