Search results for "nervous system diseases"
showing 10 items of 539 documents
Age at surgery as a predictor of cognitive improvements in patients with drug-resistant temporal epilepsy
2017
Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery is an effective procedure that can produce cognitive changes. However, the prognostic factors related with cognitive outcomes need to be better understood. The aim of the present study is to know if age at surgery is a reliable predictor of verbal memory competence and considering factors such as: hemisphere; type of surgery; pre-surgical seizure frequency; and epilepsy duration. Sixty-one typically dominant patients with drug-resistant TLE (34 with left TLE [L-TLE] and 27 with right TLE [R-TLE]) underwent a neuropsychological assessment before and a year after surgery. Results showed that R-TLE patients had better evolution in short- and long-term verba…
When tinnitus loudness and annoyance are discrepant: audiological characteristics and psychological profile.
2006
This study evaluates sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients reporting discrepant levels of tinnitus loudness and annoyance. 4958 subjects recruited from a national tinnitus association completed a comprehensive screening questionnaire including Klockhoff and Lindblom’s loudness grading system and the psychometric Mini-TQ (Tinnitus Questionnaire). There was a moderate correlation of 0.45 between loudness and annoyance. Of the subjects reporting very loud tinnitus, about one third had only mild or moderate annoyance scores. They were not different from those with high annoyance regarding age, gender and tinnitus duration, but annoyance was increased when subjects had additi…
Relationship Between Regional Cerebral Blood Flow and Electrocorticographic Activities Under Sevoflurane and Isoflurane Anesthesia
2010
The aims of this study are (1) to assess the effects of volatile anesthetics on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and electrocorticography (ECoG), and (2) to investigate the relationship between rCBF and ECoG influenced by volatile anesthetics. The authors measured rCBF using laser Doppler flowmetry and ECoG simultaneously and continuously from the same cortex during craniotomy, using the specially arranged probe. Patients received intravenous anesthetics with nitrous oxide until craniotomy, and after opening of dura, volatile anesthetic, either isoflurane or sevoflurane, was started and was gradually increased for the measurement. Four of the nine cases (44.4%) of the sevoflurane group s…
Do spinal meningiomas penetrate the pial layer? Correlation between magnetic resonance imaging and microsurgical findings and intracranial tumor inte…
1997
OBJECTIVE: To study the relationships between spinal dura-arachnoid and tumor-cord interfaces in spinal meningiomas and to investigate whether a disruption of the pial layer and penetration of the tumor in the spinal cord occurs. METHODS: Fifteen patients with histologically proven meningiomas underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) preoperatively. All patients underwent microsurgery. The histological characteristics of the tumors were compared with MRI and microsurgical findings. RESULTS: At surgery, the peritumoral hypointense rim revealed by MRI in 10 of 15 patients corresponded to a well-defined cerebrospinal fluid-containing space confined between the outer arachnoidal layer and the…
Deciphering exome sequencing data: Bringing mitochondrial DNA variants to light
2019
The expanding use of exome sequencing (ES) in diagnosis generates a huge amount of data, including untargeted mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. We developed a strategy to deeply study ES data, focusing on the mtDNA genome on a large unspecific cohort to increase diagnostic yield. A targeted bioinformatics pipeline assembled mitochondrial genome from ES data to detect pathogenic mtDNA variants in parallel with the "in-house" nuclear exome pipeline. mtDNA data coming from off-target sequences (indirect sequencing) were extracted from the BAM files in 928 individuals with developmental and/or neurological anomalies. The mtDNA variants were filtered out based on database information, cohort …
Rich false memories of autobiographical events can be reversed
2021
False memories of autobiographical events can create enormous problems in forensic settings (e.g., false accusations). While multiple studies succeeded in inducing false memories in interview settings, we present research trying to reverse this effect (and thereby reduce the potential damage) by means of two ecologically valid strategies. We first successfully implanted false memories for two plausible autobiographical events (suggested by the students’ parents, alongside two true events). Over three repeated interviews, participants developed false memories (measured by state-of-the-art coding) of the suggested events under minimally suggestive conditions (27%) and even more so using massi…
The Laparoscopic Approach to Control Intractable Pelvic Neuralgia: From Laparoscopic Pelvic Neurosurgery to the LION Procedure
2007
OBJECTIVE: To present different aspects and advantages of the laparoscopic approach to the pelvic nerves aimed at treating intractable pelvic neuralgia. METHODS: We report on a nonconsecutive series of 7 patients with different types and etiologies of chronic pelvic neuralgia, all of whom underwent laparoscopy. In all 7 cases, the neuralgia was refractory to medical management and had profound socioeconomic consequences for the patients. RESULTS: Techniques of laparoscopic transperitoneal neurolysis of several pelvic somatic nerves are described but also our technique of laparoscopic implantation of neuroprothesis for neuromodulation on somatic pelvic nerves or on autonomic pelvic nerves as…
Cellular Phones, Cordless Phones, and the Risks of Glioma and Meningioma (Interphone Study Group, Germany)
2006
The widespread use of cellular telephones has generated concern about possible adverse health effects, particularly brain tumors. In this population-based case-control study carried out in three regions of Germany, all incident cases of glioma and meningioma among patients aged 30–69 years were ascertained during 2000–2003. Controls matched on age, gender, and region were randomly drawn from population registries. In total, 366 glioma cases, 381 meningioma cases, and 1,494 controls were interviewed. Overall use of a cellular phone was not associated with brain tumor risk; the respective odds ratios were 0.98 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74, 1.29) for glioma and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.13)…
Quantitative sensory testing in the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain (DFNS): Somatosensory abnormalities in 1236 patients with different n…
2009
Neuropathic pain is accompanied by both positive and negative sensory signs. To explore the spectrum of sensory abnormalities, 1236 patients with a clinical diagnosis of neuropathic pain were assessed by quantitative sensory testing (QST) following the protocol of DFNS (German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain), using both thermal and mechanical nociceptive as well as non-nociceptive stimuli. Data distributions showed a systematic shift to hyperalgesia for nociceptive, and to hypoesthesia for non-nociceptive parameters. Across all parameters, 92% of the patients presented at least one abnormality. Thermosensory or mechanical hypoesthesia (up to 41%) was more frequent than hypoalgesia (up…
Neurogenic hyperalgesia versus painful hypoalgesia: two distinct mechanisms of neuropathic pain
2002
Patients with sensory disturbances of painful and non-painful character show distinct changes in touch and/or pain sensitivity. The patterns of sensory changes were compared to those of human surrogate models of neuropathic pain to assess the underlying mechanisms. We investigated 30 consecutive in-patients with dysaesthesia of various origins (peripheral, spinal, and brainstem lesions) and 15 healthy subjects. Tactile thresholds were determined with calibrated von Frey hairs (1.1mm). Thresholds and stimulus-response functions for pricking pain were determined with a series of calibrated punctate mechanical stimulators (0.2mm). Allodynia was tested by light stroking with a brush, Q-tip, and…