Search results for "Neurologic"
showing 10 items of 473 documents
Traumatic brain injury: integrated approaches to improve prevention, clinical care, and research
2017
Executive summary A concerted effort to tackle the global health problem posed by traumatic brain injury (TBI) is long overdue. TBI is a public health challenge of vast, but insufficiently recognised, proportions. Worldwide, more than 50 million people have a TBI each year, and it is estimated that about half the world’s population will have one or more TBIs over their lifetime. TBI is the leading cause of mortality in young adults and a major cause of death and disability across all ages in all countries, with a disproportionate burden of disability and death occurring in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). It has been estimated that TBI costs the global economy approximately $…
Endothelial Function and Arterial Stiffness in Uncomplicated Type 1 Diabetes and Healthy Controls and the Impact of Insulin on These Parameters durin…
2007
BACKGROUND In addition to its role in glucose metabolism, insulin has shown to exert numerous vascular effects, and an impaired vascular function of insulin is assumed to be a major contributor in the development of vascular complications. Arterial augmentation (AP) and the augmentation index (Aix) are surrogate parameters of arterial stiffness and are commonly used as predictors for cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of insulin on arterial stiffness and parameters of endothelial function in patients with type 1 diabetes and healthy control subjects. METHODS Fourteen patients with type 1 diabetes (six male, eight female) with a mean age of 36.6 +/- 11.8 …
Prevalence of essential tremor: A door-to-door survey in Terrasini, Sicily
1994
As part of a door-to-door neuroepidemiologic survey, we investigated the frequency and distribution of essential tremor (ET) in a Sicilian municipality. During phase 1, we administered a screening instrument for tremor to 7,653 persons residing in Terrasini (Palermo province). During phase 2, neurologists evaluated those subjects who had screened positive. The diagnoses, based on specified clinical criteria, were reviewed to increase reliability across neurologists. We found 31 subjects affected by ET (17 men, 14 women); 11 patients (35.5%) reported a familial aggregation. The prevalence of ET as of November 1, 1987, was 405.1 per 100,000 for the total population, and 1,074.9 per 100,000 fo…
A nonlinear biomechanical model for evaluation of cerebrospinal fluid shunt systems.
1994
In view of complications arising from physical properties of cerebrospinal fluid shunts, a biomechanical model of hydrocephalus was set up to study in vivo parameters that may influence their function. These include: intracranial pressure, compliance and pulses, intrathoracic, intra-abdominal, and subcutaneous pressures, and the effects of siphonage and repeated valve flushing. Each of these factors was studied separately upon shunt implantation in the model. Results of testing of a sample low-pressure valve with antisiphon device conformed with consumer information in regard to valve opening pressure and pressure flow measurements. No customer information, however, was supplied concerning …
Endoscope-assisted microsurgery for cerebral aneurysms.
1999
A total of 66 patients with intracranial aneurysms were endoscopically assisted treated during a 3 years period. Among those were five individuals with giant aneurysms and 27 patients with aneurysms of the posterior circulation. The endoscope was used only for checking the anatomical structures surround the aneurysms in 16 cases. In 43 patients the aneurysm sac was also dissected under endoscopical con-trol. Even the clipping procedure was performed in seven cases exclusively under endoscopical obser-vation. Only one prematural rupture occurred intraoperatively during preparation of a basilar tip aneurysm. Postoperatively three individuals with aneurysms located in the posterior circulation…
PGC-1α: a master gene that is hard to master
2012
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) is a transcriptional coactivator that favorably affects mitochondrial function. This concept is supported by an increasing amount of data including studies in PGC-1α gene-deleted mice, suggesting that PGC-1α is a rescue factor capable of boosting cell metabolism and promoting cell survival. However, this view has now been called into question by a recent study showing that adeno-associated virus-mediated PGC-1α overexpression causes overt cell degeneration in dopaminergic neurons. How is this to be understood, and can these seemingly conflicting findings tell us something about the role of PGC-1α in cell stress and in cont…
Psychotherapeutically Oriented Vibroacoustic Therapy for Functional Neurological Disorder: A Pilot Study
2021
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) affects a significant number of people worldwide. Previously referred to as conversion disorder, FND is a disorder of the communication between mind and body resulting in the experience of neurological symptoms incompatible with neurological or medical diagnoses. FND patients account for a notable portion of neurologists' patients, and yet these patients are still considered some of the most difficult to diagnose and treat. This pilot case study utilized a psychotherapeutically oriented approach to vibroacoustic therapy and active music therapy methodology in the therapy process of a patient diagnosed with FND. The treatment protocol used in this study…
Swallowing impairment in neurologic disorders: The role of videofluorographic swallowing study
2018
Patients with neurologic diseases almost inevitably develop various degrees of swallowing disorders during their life. Dysphagia is one of the main negative prognostic factors in this class of patients, leading to severe morbidity (i.e. aspiration pneumonia, dehydration, malnutrition, and life quality deterioration) and to a noticeable increase in public health spending. Videofluorographic swallowing study is considered the gold standard technique for swallowing impairment assessment. It is aimed at early identification of the risk of aspiration, definition of the kind and grade of dysphagia, and an indication to suspend oral nutrition and adopt other feeding strategies, and define when the…
COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s Disease
2021
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a neurotropic virus with a high neuroinvasive potential. Indeed, more than one-third of patients develop neurological symptoms, including confusion, headache, and hypogeusia/ageusia. However, long-term neurological consequences have received little interest compared to respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal manifestations. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the potential SARS-CoV-2 neurological injury that could lead to the development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). A mutualistic relationship between AD and COVID-19 seems to exist. On the one hand, COVID-19 patients seem to …
Vertigo and multiple sclerosis: aspects of differential diagnosis.
2002
Equilibrium disorders caused by involvement of brainstem and cerebellar structures are common in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), but peripheral conditions such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) can be sometimes confused with those of a central origin. Therefore, an accurate otoneurologic investigation paying attention to differential diagnosis aspects should be performed in these subjects. Among available diagnostic tools, electro-oculography, posturography and vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) are especially suited to assess vestibulo-oculomotor and vestibulospinal systems. This paper briefly describes the most recent otoneurologic diagnostic strategies for …