Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry articles from January 2001

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry archives from January 2001

Synapses, sea slugs, and psychiatry.
January 1, 2001... This year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, announced on 9 October 2000, has gone to Arvid Carlsson, Paul Greengard, and Eric Kandel. The citation states that the prize is shared for pioneering discoveries in slow synaptic transmission,...

Prevalence of cerebral white matter lesions in elderly people: a population based magnetic resonance imaging study: the Rotterdam Scan Study.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... In the paper from the Rotterdam Scan Study (this issue pp 9-14), [1] de Leeuw et al take another step towards understanding the conundrum of white matter disease (leukoarosis) and its associations with aging and gender. This will hopefully lead...

Vascular depression: new light on an established idea?
January 1, 2001... The paper by Thomas et al [1] (this issue, pp 83-87) furthers the concept of "vascular depression". The concept is a venerable one, dating back at least to the scholarly work of Felix Post. [2] It found new vigour in the work of Robinson and...

Neurology of ciguatera.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Ciguatera is a widespread ichthyosarcotoxaemia with dramatic and clinically important neurological features. This severe form of fish poisoning may present with either acute or chronic intoxication syndromes and constitutes a...

Prevalence of cerebral white matter lesions in elderly people: a population based magnetic resonance imaging study. The Rotterdam Scan Study.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--White matter lesions are often seen on MR scans of elderly non-demented and demented people. They are attributed to degenerative changes of small vessels and are implicated in the pathogenesis of cognitive decline and...

HISTORICAL NOTE.
January 1, 2001... Saint Vitus and his dance In the current nomenclature Saint Vitus' dance or chorea (from the Greek xopeia for dance) has been largely displaced by the eponym Sydenham's chorea. The exchange occurred recently, although the association of...

Additional educational needs in children born to mothers with epilepsy.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--To examine the relative risks of additional educational needs (AENs) in children exposed to antiepileptic drug (AED) monotherapy and polytherapy regimes in utero. Methods--A retrospective survey of women between...

Brain perfusion abnormalities in Alzheimer's disease: comparison between patients with focal temporal lobe dysfunction and patients with diffuse cognitive impairment.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) showing a selective impairment of episodic and semantic memory have recently been classified as affected by focal temporal lobe dysfunction (FTLD) and considered as a distinct...

Variation of visual evoked potential delay to stimulation of central, nasal, and temporal regions of the macula in optic neuritis.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--To compare the degree of visual evoked potential (VEP) delay to stimulation of central, nasal, and temporal regions of the macula in optic neuritis, to determine whether the differential involvement of parvocellular...

Facilitation of transmission in heteronymous group II pathways in spastic hemiplegic patients.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--A potent heteronymous group II excitation of quadriceps motor neurons has been recently demonstrated in normal subjects. The present study was undertaken to investigate whether this heteronymous group II excitation also...

Pattern of localisation error in patients with stroke to sound processed by a binaural sound space processor.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--The ability of 46 patients with supratentorial stroke and 15 healthy subjects to localise sounds was tested using an apparatus with headphone and sound space processor. Methods--With a binaural sound space...

Anti-GQ1b IgG antibody syndrome: clinical and immunological range.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--To clarify the nosological relation among Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS), Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) with ophthalnioplegia, Bickerstaff's brain stem encephalitis (BBE), and acute ophthalmoparesis without ataxia. Serum...

Excitability properties of motor axons in patients with spontaneous motor unit activity.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--Measures of nerve excitability provide information about biophysical properties of peripheral axons in disease states. One measure, the strength duration time constant ([[tau].sub.SD]), was previously reported to be...

X-linked sideroblastic anaemia with ataxia: another mitochondrial disease?(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--The syndrome of X-linked sideroblastic anaemia with ataxia is rare, described only twice in the literature. The aim was to obtain clinical neurological and haematological data about this rare syndrome throughout adult...

Reduced item set for the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis assessment questionnaire: development and validation of the ALSAQ-5.(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis assessment questionnaire based on five-year span since diagnosis)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--The 40 item amyotrophic lateral sclerosis assessment questionnaire (ALSAQ-40) is a subjective health measure designed specifically to assess areas of importance to patients with ALS. It was designed for use in surveys...

Diagnosis and surgical management of intraspinal synovial cysts: report of 19 cases.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--Synovial cysts of the vertebral facet joints are a source of nerve root compression. Different surgical procedures are in use, but no consensus has been formed so far as to which method should be used in synovial cysts....

Amitriptyline enhances the central component of physiological tremor.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--Postural tremor is a regularly encountered side effect of amitriptyline which can be strong enough to cause discontinuation of therapy. The aim was to characterise amitriptyline induced tremor and to assess if the...

A neuropathological study of vascular factors in late-life depression.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--Depression is a common psychiatric disorder in late life and it may be associated with vascular disease processes. Although there are clinical and neuroimaging studies lending support to such a "vascular depression"...

Abnormal peripheral auditory asymmetry in schizophrenia.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objective--Auditory processing difficulties have been reported in schizophrenia. This study explores peripheral auditory function in patients with schizophrenia in whom certain early disturbances of auditory message filtering have...

Release of biochemical markers of damage to neuronal and glial brain tissue is associated with short and long term neuropsychological outcome after traumatic brain injury.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Objectives--The present study aimed at the analysis of release patterns of neurobiochemical markers of brain damage (neuron specific enolase (NSE) and protein S-100B) in patients with traumatic brain injury and their predictive...

Increased jugular bulb saturation is associated with poor outcome in traumatic brain injury.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract The objective was to compare secondary insults, particularly decreases in jugular bulb oxyhaemoglobin saturation ([SjO.sub.2]), during intensive care in patients with "poor" and "good" outcomes 12 months after traumatic brain...

Clinical features and prognostic factors of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in a prospective series of 59 patients.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract The prognosis of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is variable, and outcome may range from complete recovery to death. Prognostic factors to predict outcome in the acute phase of CVST have not been analysed in a prospective...

Cognitive dysfunction as a major determinant of disability in patients with heart failure: results from a multicentre survey.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract Cognitive dysfunction is a frequent finding among older patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction; however, the clinical outcomes of such a finding are unknown. Also, disability is a common condition in heart failure,...

Encephalomyelitis due to Cryptococcus neoformans var gattii presenting as spinal tumour: case report and review of the literature.
January 1, 2001... Abstract A 24 year old immunocompetent German resident is described who developed multifocal encephalomyelitis due to infection with Cryptococcus neoformans var gatti, commonly considered a disease of tropical regions. In the light of...

Herpes simplex encephalitis: involvement of apolipoprotein E genotype.(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2001... Abstract It was previously found that herpes simplex type 1 virus (HSV1) when present in the brain, is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease in carriers of the type 4 allele of the gene for apolipoprotein E (apoE [epsilon]4), and apoE...

Primary diffuse leptomeningeal gliomatosis simulating tuberculous meningitis.
January 1, 2001... Abstract Three patients are reported on who presented with communicating hydrocephalus due to presumed tuberculous meningitis. Subsequent clinical deterioration despite antituberculous chemotherapy prompted reassessment with FDG-PET...

PMP22 related congenital hypomyelination neuropathy.
January 1, 2001... Abstract The peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22) is a tetraspan membrane protein which is localised in the compact myelin of the peripheral nerves. In fibroblasts, where it was originally identified as growth arrest related factor 3...

Wilhelm Conrad Von Rontgen (1845-1923).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Rontgen's parents, a German father and Dutch mother, were cousins. He was born in Lennep in Germany, but his family moved to Holland when he was 3 years old. At the age of 17 he was enrolled as a student in the Technical School in Utrecht....

Isolated medulla oblongata function after severe traumatic brain injury.
January 1, 2001... Abstract The objective was to report the first pathologically confirmed case of partly functionally preserved medulla oblongata in a patient with catastrophic traumatic brain injury. A patient is described with epidural haematoma with...

Medial medullary syndrome due to vertebral artery dissection.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... A 61 year old woman presented at the emergency ward with a 3 day history of fluctuating vertigo and lateropulsion to the right. Clinical examination showed slurred speech, conjugated right beating horizontal nystagmus in primary gaze that...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
January 1, 2001... Hashimoto's encephalopathy responding to plasmapheresis A 47 year old man presented to the emergency department of our hospital. He was born in Uruguay, but had lived in Australia for many years and had not travelled overseas recently. He...

CORRESPONDENCE.(Column)
January 1, 2001... Unexpected sudden death after lateral medullary infarction I read with interest the study of Fitzek et al, [1] which included 15 patients with lower brain stem infarction. One patient with a "complete Wallenberg's syndrome" (No 15) died...

Abnormal Cortical Development and Epilepsy: from Basic to Clinical Science.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Abnormal Cortical Development and Epilepsy: from Basic to Clinical Science. By R SPREAFICO, G AVANZINI, and F (Pp 324, [pound]39.00). Bastleigh: John Libbey, 1999. ISBN 0 86916 5795. One of the most interesting fields of research in...

The Autonomic Nervous Sysem and its Effectors.(Review)
January 1, 2001... The Autonomic Nervous Sysem and its Effectors. By A BRADING. (Pp 370, [pound]59.50). Oxford: Blackwell Science, 1999. ISBN 0 632 02624 3. There is something about the autonomic nervous system that causes undergraduate students and doctors...

Manual of Nerve Conduction Studies.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Manual of Nerve Conduction Studies. By R M BUSCHBACHER. (Pp 296, US$49.95). New York: Demos Medical, 1999. ISBN 1 888799 36 6. This book, by its own admission, is neither a comprehensive textbook nor teaching manual. The author's stated...

The Clinical Neuropsychiatry of Multiple Sclerosis.(Review)
January 1, 2001... The Clinical Neuropsychiatry of Multiple Sclerosis. By A FEINSTEIN. (Pp 204, [pound]40.00). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0 521 57274 6. This is a clear, basic textbook outlining the main neuropsychiatric syndromes...

Memory Disorders in Psychiatric Practice.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Memory Disorders in Psychiatric Practice. Edited by G E BERRIOS and J R HODGES. (Pp 520, [pound]39.95). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0 521 57671 7. Until the end of the 19th century little distinction was made between...

An Atlas of Peripheral Nerve Pathology.(Review)
January 1, 2001... An Atlas of Peripheral Nerve Pathology. By ROSALIND KING. (Pp 217, [pound]125). Published by Arnold, London, 1999. ISBN 0-340-586664. Whether it is because peripheral nerve has a limited repertoire of responses to pathological insults or...

Central Nervous System Angitis.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Central Nervous System Angitis. By JAMES W SCHMIDLEY. (Pp240, [pound]70.00). Published by Butterworth Fieinemann, Oxford, 2000. ISBN 0 7506 7153 X. Schmidley's book on CNS angiitis is an absolute gem, He concisely summarises the salient...

Monographs in Clinical Neuroscience. Volume 17: Drug Treatment of Migraine and Other Headaches.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Monographs in Clinical Neuroscience. Volume 17: Drug Treatment of Migraine and Other Headaches. Edited by H C DIENER (Pp 372, US$191.50). Published by Karger, Basel, 2000. ISBN 3 8055 6971 8. In the past decade, many new treatments for...

Management of Persons with Chronic Neurologic Illness.(Review)
January 1, 2001... Management of Persons with Chronic Neurologic Illness. Edited by MARK N OZER (Pp 353, [POUND]45.00). Published by Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2000. ISBN 0 7506 7005 3. This multiauthor book aims to provide physicians with an approach to...

The Biology of the Autistic Syndromes, 3rd Edition.(Review)
January 1, 2001... The Biology of the Autistic Syndromes, 3rd Edition. By CHRISTOPHER GILLBERG and MARY COLEMAN (Pp 330, [pound]60.00). Published by MacKeith Press, London, 2000. ISBN 1 898 68322 0. The field of autism research has been growing very fast in...

CORRECTION.(Brief Article)(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2001... Cabre P, Smadja D, Cabie A, et al. HTLV-1 and HIV infections of the central nervous system in tropical areas. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2000;68:550-7. During the editorial process the doses given in table 2 were misquoted. The correct table...

NEUROLOGY IN PRACTICE: CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASE.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Stroke medicine has evolved dramatically over the last 20 years. The major advances have arisen from large clinical trials, combining studies using meta-analysis, improved classification of stroke subtypes, and developments in investigation,...

SURFING FOR STROKE.(Internet as stroke treatment resource)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Exploring the internet for useful information on medical conditions can be an endlessly frustrating exercise. While many of the sites are intended as "all things to all people" the Stroke Network (http://www.strokenetwork.org/) is unusual in...

ASSESSMENT AND INVESTIGATION OF STROKE AND TRANSIENT ISCHAEMIC ATTACK.
January 1, 2001... Any discussion of the diagnosis and investigation of stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA) must keep in mind the convincing evidence of the benefits of organised stroke care to patients of all ages, [1] the availability of evidence based...

RADIOLOGY OF STROKE.
January 1, 2001... Stroke is a clinical syndrome. [1] In the investigation of stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA) imaging is used to differentiate: * vascular from non-vascular lesions, such as tumours or infections * ischaemic from haemorrhagic...

MEDICAL MANAGEMENT OF STROKE.
January 1, 2001... Management of stroke has been revolutionised over the past decade, and therapeutic nihilism is no longer justified. The advent of acute treatments, especially thrombolysis, where the window of opportunity for intervention is very short and the...

IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT OF DIFFICULT STROKE AND TIA SYNDROMES.
January 1, 2001... Usually, difficulty in the diagnosis and management of stroke occurs because of the rarity of the presentation, ignorance about the condition, or the lack of scientific clinical trial data to support clinical decisions. This article focuses on...

NEUROLOGY IN PRACTICE: EPILEPSY.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Epilepsy is a common chronic disorder affecting at least 350 000 persons in the UK. Patients with blackouts and suspected epilepsy account for about 20% of new referrals to neurological outpatients and those with epilepsy a considerable...

ASSESSMENT AND INVESTIGATION OF POSSIBLE EPILEPTIC SEIZURES.
January 1, 2001... Epilepsy enters the differential diagnosis of paroxysmal disorders of central nervous system function. The first step is to differentiate seizures from other common paroxysmal disorders, which are considered in another section (see p ii9). When...

SURFING FOR EPILEPSY.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... If you are a patient with epilepsy, or a doctor wishing to inform patients about epilepsy, the net undoubtedly has a lot to offer. Both the British Epilepsy Association (BEA: http.//www.epilepsy.org.uk/) and its US counterpart site...

IF IT'S NOT EPILEPSY...
January 1, 2001... The most important diagnostic problem in epileptology is to distinguish epileptic seizures from syncope and from psychogenic attacks. A less common problem is the need to distinguish epilepsy from other paroxysmal disorders with which it may...

THE MANAGEMENT OF EPILEPSY.
January 1, 2001... Epilepsy is a common, sometimes chronic, condition with physical risks and psychological and socioeconomic consequences which impair quality of life. The management of patients with epilepsy demands long term commitment from both the general...

THE MANAGEMENT OF STATUS EPILEPTICUS.
January 1, 2001... Status epilepticus is defined usually as a condition in which epileptic activity persists for 30 minutes or more. The seizures can take the form of prolonged seizures or repetitive attacks without recovery in between. There are various types of...