Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry articles from January 2002

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry archives from January 2002

Despair of repair: Intravenous immunoglobulins in multiple sclerosis. (Multiple Sclerosis).
January 1, 2002... Originally, intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) were designed to provide replacement therapy for patients with hypogammaglobulinaemia. Fortuitously, Imbach et al discovered in the early 1980s that these preparations were beneficial in idiopathic...

When can antiepileptic drugs be safely withdrawn? A further attempt to assess risk of recurrent seizures if medication is discontinued. (Epilepsy).
January 1, 2002... One of the more difficult questions in the management of people with epilepsy is, "When can antiepileptic drugs be safely withdrawn? For adults, the reasons for continuing medication are often as much social as medical, and the issue of driving...

Thunderclap headache. (Nosological Entities?).
January 1, 2002... The aim is to review the background underlying the debate related to the alternative nomenclatures for and the most appropriate diagnostic evaluation of patients with thunderclap headache. The clinical profile and differential diagnosis of...

Neuropsychiatry of the basal ganglia. (Advances in Neuropsychiarty).
January 1, 2002... This review aims to relate recent findings describing the role and neural connectivity of the basal ganglia to the clinical neuropsychiatry of basal ganglia movement disorders and to the role of basal ganglia disturbances in "psychiatric"'...

Discontinuing antiepileptic drugs in patients who are seizure free on monotherapy. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: To assess the recurrence rate of epilepsy attributable to discontinuation of treatment in seizure free patients and to identify the risk factors for recurrence. Methods: 330 patients referred to an epilepsy centre who were...

Heart rate dynamics in refractory and well controlled temporal lobe epilepsy. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: Disorders of cardiovascular and other autonomic nervous system functions are often found in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Cardiovascular dysregulation in TLE has previously been quantified assessing traditional time...

Swallowing and voice effects of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT[R]): a pilot study. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To define the effects of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT[R]) on swallowing and voice in eight patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Methods: Each patient received a modified barium swallow (MBS) in addition to voice...

Distribution patterns of demyelination correlate with clinical profiles in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Background: Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a heterogeneous disorder having a wide clinical range, and is characterised by multifocal demyelination that can involve the distal nerve terminals, intermediate nerve...

Neurological picture: Footdrop after peroneal nerve lesion.
January 1, 2002... A 45 year old man presented with a history of footdrop. Years before examination he had noticed difficulties with pronation and mild difficulties with elevation of the right toe. He then presented with a 14 day history of acute complete loss of...

The prevalence of "pure" autosomal dominant hereditary spastic paraparesis in the island of Ireland. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: Hereditary spastic paraparesis (HSP) is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. "Pure" autosomal dominant (AD) HSP is most common and eight genetic loci are identified to date. Previous studies have included autosomal recessive...

Impact of thalamic deep brain stimulation on disability and health-related quality of life in patients with essential tremor. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: To evaluate the impact of thalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) on disability and health-related quality of life in patients with essential tremor. Methods: Twenty seven consecutive patients were evaluated prospectively, before...

Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus: anatomical, neurophysiological, and outcome correlations with the effects of stimulation. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: Bilateral chronic high frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), through the stereotactical placement of stimulating electrodes, effectively improves the motor symptoms of severe Parkinson's disease. Intraoperative...

The natural history and treatment of acquired hemidystonia: report of 33 cases and review of the literature. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To evaluate the natural history and response to treatment in hemidystonia. Methods: 190 Cases of hemidystonia were identified; 33 patients in this series and 157 from the world literature. Data was collected on aetiology, age of...

Triangular backgrounds shift the bias of line bisection performance in hemispatial neglect. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objective: Patients with left neglect on line bisection show normal implicit sensitivity to manipulations of both the stimulus and the visual background. Three experiments were designed to define this sensitivity more exactly. Methods:...

Effects of left parietal injury on covert orienting of attention. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To assess the effects of left parietal injury on covert visual attention during a detection task and a pointing task. Methods: The Posner's paradigm was given to a patient who was found at the age of 74 to have spent all his life...

Gait apraxia after bilateral supplementary motor area lesion. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: The study aimed at addressing the issue of the precise nature of gait apraxia and the cerebral dysfunction responsible for it. Methods: The case of a patient, affected by a bilateral infarction limited to a portion of the...

Physical and psychological correlates of primary headache in young adulthood: A 26 year longitudinal study. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: To determine if physical and/or psychological risk factors could differentiate between subtypes of primary headache (migraine, tension-type headache (TTH), and coexisting migraine and TTH (combined)) among members of a longitudinal...

Evaluation of cognitive assessment and cognitive intervention for people with multiple sclerosis. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: Cognitive problems in multiple sclerosis are common but any possible benefits of treatment remain uncertain. The aim of the study was to evaluate the benefits of providing a psychology service, including cognitive assessment and...

Increases in GABA concentrations during cerebral ischaemia: a microdialysis study of extracellular amino acids. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: Increases in the extracellular concentration of the excitatory amino acids glutamate and aspartate during cerebral ischaemia in patients are well recognised. Less emphasis has been placed on the concentrations of the inhibitory...

Neurological stamp: Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940).
January 1, 2002... Wagner-Jauregg began his medical studies at the University of Vienna in 1874. His career was rooted in the new fields of microscopy and experimental biology. He met and became a lifelong friend of Sigmund Freud. For a short time after leaving...

Immediate and delayed effects of risperidone on cerebral metabolism in neuroleptic naive schizophrenic patients: correlations with symptom change. (Paper).
January 1, 2002... Objective: Different symptom patterns have been shown to be associated with specific patterns of cerebral metabolic activity in schizophrenia. Treatment with various neuroleptic drugs results in decreased metabolism in frontal cortical regions....

Anticholinergic drugs: response of parkinsonism not responsive to levodopa. (Short Report).
January 1, 2002... A 41 year old man with parkinsonism and pyramidal signs is described. He was non-responsive to levodopa and dopamine receptor agonists but dramatically responded to trihexyphenidyl. In this patient, brain MRI showed bilateral hyperintensities...

Antiepileptic drugs: coprescription of proconvulsant drugs and oral contraceptives: a national study of antiepileptic drug prescribing practice. (Short Report).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: To determine the frequency of coprescription of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and drugs with proconvulsant potential and of coprescription of AEDs and low dose oral contraceptives. Methods: Using information from all 294 fully...

Fear conditioned changes of heart rate in patients with medial cerebellar lesions. (Short Report).
January 1, 2002... Fear conditioned changes of heart rate and skin conductance responses were investigated in patients with medial cerebellar lesions. A classical conditioning paradigm with a tone as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and an electrical shock as the...

Evaluation of the management of optic neuritis: audit on the neurological and ophthalmological practice in the north west of England. (Short Report).
January 1, 2002... The management of acute optic neuritis by neurologists and ophthalmologists in the north west of England was assessed in the light of the Optic Neuritis Treatment Trial (ONTT) recommendations. A questionnaire on a fictitious case of typical...

Mexiletine is effective on segmental hyperhidrosis: report of two cases. (Letter).
January 1, 2002... Segmental hyperhidrosis occurs in patients who have spinal cord lesions such as syringomyelia, (1) vascular disorders, or tumours. Severe segmental hyperhidrosis not only causes discomfort, but may disturb daily life, as it did with our...

Unusual presentation of a primary spinal lymphoma. (Correspondence).(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2002... Wilkening et al (1) described the unusual history of a formerly healthy immunocompetent white woman initially presenting with an SI syndrome with lymphocytic pleocytosis in the CSF, leading to the misdiagnosis of meningoradiculitis. Repeated...

Advances in Research on Neurodegeneration, vol. 7. (Book Reviews).
January 1, 2002... By Yashikuni Mizuno, Donald B Calne, Reinhard Horowski, Werner Poewe, Peter Riederer, and Moussa Youdim (Pp 214, US$95.00). Published by Springer-Verlag, Wien, 2000. ISBN 3-211-83485-0 The book is part of a series based on the proceedings...

EMG Waveforms: Video Companion to Electromyography and Neuromuscular Disorders. (Book Reviews).
January 1, 2002... By David C Preston and Barbara E Shapiro (Pp 42 and PAL video, [pounds sterling]55.00). Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, Woburn, 2000. ISBN 0-75-067278-1. The practice of electromyography, despite many advances in signal analysis,...

Neuropsychological Evaluation of the Older Adult: A Clinician's Guidebook. (Book Reviews).
January 1, 2002... By Joanne Green (Pp 311, US$69.95). Published by Academic Press, San Diego, 2000. ISBN 0 12 298190 1 This book gives comprehensive and thorough up to date coverage of this topic. It starts from the premise that neuropsychological...

Thrombolytic Therapy for Stroke. (Book Reviews).
January 1, 2002... Edited by Patrick D Lyden (Pp 398, US$125.00]. Published by Humana Press, New Jersey, 2001. ISBN 0-896-03746-0 The end of the 20th century saw a transition in the approach to acute stroke from therapeutic nihilism to enthusiasm. Stroke is...

Neurobiology of Spinal Cord Injury. (Book Reviews).
January 1, 2002... Edited by Robert G Kalb and Stephen M Strittmatter (Pp284, $125.00). Published by The Humana Press, New Jersey, 1999. ISBN 0-896-03672-3. "The future for regenerative therapies of the spinal cord is clearly very bright"--thus ends this...

Cognitive Neurorehabilitation. (Book Reviews).
January 1, 2002... Edited by Donald T Stuss, Gordon Winocur, and Ian H Robertson (Pp 385, [pounds sterling]64.95). Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999. ISBN 0 521 58102 8 As the French term "re-education" implies, learning is a key...

Neuropathology and Genetics of Dementia: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol. 487. (Book Reviews).
January 1, 2002... Edited by Markus Tolnay and Alphonse Probst. (Pp 270, [pounds sterling]63). Published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2001. ISBN 0 306 46558 2 This book represents the Proceedings of the XVIIIth International Winter Meeting...

A comparison of Neuropsychological assessment and MRI imaging scores in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... The aim of this study is to address whether neuropsychological measures or imaging scores best predict which patients with questionable dementia progress to fulfil criteria for Alzheimer's disease (AD). MRI images of 50 subjects (18 with early...

Early cognitive decline in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease occurring in recipients of pituitary-derived human growth hormone. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Most cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD] in recipients of human cadaveric growth hormone, present with a cerebellar syndrome. Dementia is thought to occur late and as a minor feature of the illness. However, neuropsychology data published...

Laterality of unexplained motor and sensory symptoms: A systematic review 1965-2000. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Background: Unilateral unexplained motor and sensory symptoms present commonly to neurologists. The literature has suggested that left sided symptoms are far more common than right. Methods: A systematic review of the literature since 1965...

Haemoglobin concentration and stroke risk in 13 000 patients with established Cerbrovascular disease. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Small studies and case reports have suggested that polycythaemia may increase the risk of ischaemic stroke. There is physiological evidence to support this, but there have been no adequately powered cohort studies. We therefore pooled detailed...

A comparison of CT versus diffusion weighted imaging in hyperacute stroke using a systematic quantitative score (ASPECTS). (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Background: Tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) when administered Methods: All patients had a CT scan (within 6 hours of stroke onset] prior to MRJ (<7 hours of onset). Non-contrast enhanced CT scans were performed on fourth generation sc

History of stroke in first degree relatives of patients with TIA and ischaemic stroke in relation to clinical subtype and intermediate phenotypes. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Some rare mendelian stroke syndromes have been characterised, but the genetic epidemiology of the common forms of ischaemic stroke and TIA remains uncertain. Previous studies have not considered specific clinical and aetiological subtypes or...

A laterality shift of Broca's area in the recovery of speech production after stroke. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... The production of both propositional speech (PrSp) and nonpropositional speech (NPrSp) in normal subjects activates the left frontal operculum (Broca's area). We used PET to investigate speech production in five aphasic stroke patients with...

Clinical features and disease course of PSP in the United Kingdom. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To conduct a clinical survey of PSP and also to estimate its crude mortality rate in the United Kingdom. Methods: 187 cases of PSP were identified in the context of a United Kingdom based prevalence study. Record-based...

Oligodendrocytes secrete factors which decrease neuronal apoptosis in vitro VIA [Pl.sub.3]-KINASE/AKT signalling pathways. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... There is increasing data both from experimental models and from pathological and clinical studies of multiple sclerosis showing that oligodendrocytes provide trophic support for neurons and withdrawal of that support may contribute to neuronal...

Progression of nigrostriatal dysfunction in a parkin kindred: An [F-Dopa.sup.18] pet and clinical study. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... We have used [F-dopa.sup.18] PET to serially study a family with young onset parkinsonism with mutations in the parkin gene whose clinical picture is characterised by the presence of severe resting leg tremor. Four patients have been studied...

Unilateral Transplantation of Human primary fetal tissue in four patients with huntington's disease: Nest-UK safety report. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited CAG repeat disorder typically manifesting in mid-life and leading to death within approximately 20 years. The principle pathology is focal degeneration of the major projection neurons of the striatum,...

Fast Micrographia and Pallidal Pathology. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Micrographia is well recognised in Parkinson's disease (PD). Typically, the initial size and speed of the patient's handwriting is good, but rapidly becomes progressively smaller and slower, and may ultimately grind to a halt. There exists...

Prospective study of development of infants born to mothers with epilepsy. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: to establish if infants born to mothers with epilepsy are at increased risk of developmental delay. Methods: Our prospective study of pregnant women with epilepsy identified 292 babies whose mothers gave consent to follow up with...

Quantitative MRI abnormalities with Histopathological correlation in refractory epilepsy: A tool to predict surgical outcome? (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) is the commonest neurodevelopmental lesion causing refractory epilepsy. 50% of FCD patients hove poor outcome after surgery, continuing seizures despite complete lesion resection, suggesting the presence,...

A profile of epilepsy in a UK population. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To describe the characteristics of epilepsy in a representative UK sample, including demographic features; onset age; duration; severity; antiepileptic drug (AED) use and the impact of epilepsy on life. Methods: A large,...

The management of adults with epilepsy. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Suspected and established epilepsy are common reasons for referral to hospital clinics. Optimal management, ideally, involves cooperation between on epilepsy clinic and primary care. Because these facilities are not widely available these...

Clinical features of Paraneoplastic Neurological disorders: A retrospective study. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... There is a paucity of information about paraneoplastic neurological disorders (PND), a heterogeneous group of immune mediated conditions associated with a variety of different tumours. We report the preliminary results of a retrospective...

Audit of 2 week urgent referrals for CNS/BRAIN tumours. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To audit patients referred from general practitioners (GPs) via the 2 week wait system and contrast with neurological cancer patients identified independently of this system. Methods: GP referral letters were reviewed and...

Irreversible damage to the spinal cord after spinal Anaesthesia. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Neurological features are a recognised rare complication of spinal and epidural anaesthesia. A number of mechanisms of injury to the spinal cord have been suggested. We report five cases of damage to the distal spinal cord after spinal...

A double bind placebo controlled study of intranasal Sumatriptan in acute cluster headache. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Cluster headache attacks reach a peak of pain intensity quickly, and are short lasting; therefore acute treatments must be rapidly acting. This study sought to determine if intranasal sumatriptan is an effective treatment of acute cluster...

Effect of the Adenosine (A1) receptor agonist GR79236 on trigeminal nociception with blink reflex recordings in healthy human subjects. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... There are no good migraine models in humans, but development of a low current intensity trigeminally mediated blink reflex (BR) has allowed the study of nociceptive transmission in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis. Adenosine is antinociceptive...

A study of the acquired Neuromyotonia Phenotype of Peripheral nerve Hyperexcitability. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Acquired neuromyotonia (NMT) and cramp fasciculation syndrome (CFS) represent the severe and mild manifestations of generalised peripheral nerve hyperexcitability (PNHJ respectively. Anti-voltage gated potassium channel (VGKC) antibodies have...

Heteroplasmic Mitochondrial DNA mutations: Determining the mechanism of inheritance. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations cause progressive disabling neurological disease in at least 1 in 8000 of the UK population. Many mtDNA mutations are heteroplasmic, with a mixture of mutant and wild type mtDNA present within the same...

Results of a United Kingdom-wide clinical and Molecular Genetic study of Myotonia Congenita. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Myotonia congenita is the commonest skeletal muscle channelopathy and is caused by mutations in the skeletal muscle chloride channel gene (CLCN1) on chromosome 7q35. The aims of the study were to analyse the clinical and genetic features of...

A cysteine residue close to the C-terminus of the E subunit is essential for surface Acetylcholine receptor (ACHR) expression: Implications for ACHR deficiency syndrome. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... AChR deficiency is a recessively inherited form of congenital myasthenia in which adult AChR ([[alpha].sub.2][beta][delta][epsilon] are severely reduced or absent at the neuromuscular junction. We have identified two new mutations at the...

Serum autoantibodies to oligodendrocyte and neuronal cell surface antigens in multiple sclerosis patients. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Recent evidence suggests that autoantibodies may be important in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), but the antigens to which they in remain unknown. We incubated cultured human CNS cell lines with sera from MS patients and other...

Non-invasive ventilation in motor neuron disease: Current UK practice. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Background: The clinical application of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in motor neuron disease (MND) has not been reported in the UK. Methods: A questionnaire assessing clinical practice over the previous 12 months was sent to all UK...

An MRI study of complicated early childhood convulsion. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objectives: About half of adults with hippocampal sclerosis have a history of complicated early childhood convulsion (cECC). The objective of the study was to assess the extent of structural brain abnormality present soon after a first cECC....

A double blind single dose cross over study of the effects of pramipexole, pergolide, and placebo on tremor and updrs (III) in Parkinson's disease. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Design: 10 tremulous PD patients were pretreated with domperidone and taken off anti-parkinsonian medication. Each patient received single doses of 0.5 mg pramipexole, 0.5 mg pergolide, and placebo, but in random order. Rest tremor and UPDRS...

Pallidal stimulation for unusual movement disorders: 1 year outcome of four patients. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Pallidal stimulation has become an established mode of treatment in Parkinson's disease when medical therapy has failed. There is historical evidence to suggest that surgery to the basal ganglia can benefit a wide range of movement disorders....

Criteria for initiating non-invasive ventilation in Motor Neuron Disease. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: We studied the criteria which best predict benefit from quality of life (QOL) and compliance with non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in motor neuron disease (MND). Methods: 23 subjects were recruited. QOL (SF-36, chronic respiratory...

Responsiveness of quality of life instruments and domains to non-invasive ventilation in Motor Neuron Disease. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Background: As a prelude to a randomised controlled trial of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in motor neuron disease (MND), we studied which quality of life (QOL) instruments are most responsive. We report the results of an efficacy analysis of...

The effect of cannabis based medicinal extract on lower urinary tract dysfunction in advanced multiple sclerosis: Preliminary results. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Aims: The primary aim of this open label pilot study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of two preparations of sublingual cannabis based medicinal extract (CBME) in patients with advanced multiple sclerosis (MS) and...

Intronic and missense mutations within the LAMP-2 gene in Danon disease (x linked vacuolar Cardiomyopathy and Myopathy). (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... NP Davies, C Beesley, PM Elliott, J Holton, B Lake, DN Landon, P Lee, H Mundy, B Winchester, MG Hanna Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London; Institute of Child Health, London, UK Danon disease is an X linked disorder characterised by...

Gluten ataxia and gluten neuropathy: The effect of a gluten-free diet. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... We studied the effect of gluten free diet on patients with ataxia and/or peripheral neuropathy associated with gluten sensitivity. Sixteen patients with gluten ataxia (sporadic ataxia with circulating antigliadin antibodies) were assessed...

Human complication of the foot and mouth crisis. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... We report an unusual complication of the foot and mouth crisis. After our patient, a marksman, had examined a culled bull for signs of life, the animal's head moved, trapping his feet and causing him to lose balance. He fell backwards onto the...

A unique model of Lissencephaly. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Disorders of neuronal migration are important causes of drug resistant epilepsy. Mutations in two genes LIS 1 and DCX have been shown to cause one such condition, agyria/pachygyria/band heterotopia complex. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is...

Use of Internet Medical Websites and of NHS Direct by Neurology outpatients before consultation. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objectives/methods: Two sources of medical information have recently become available to the general public: medical websites on the Internet, and the NHS Direct telephone helpline. This study measured the use of these resources before...

An improved method of quantifying activity levels in Neurological patients. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Current assessments of mobility rely on brief observations of walking and questionnaire based scales that are surrogate measures of everyday activity. Accelerometry techniques now allow unobtrusive activity measurement over many days. Activity...

Specifying the executive deficit in Parkinson's disease; A combined behavioural and event related fMRI study. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Parkinson's disease (PD) is accompanied by a complex pattern of "frontal-like" impairments, which may include deficits in many aspects of working memory function. However, recent neuropsychological studies have questioned the psychological...

Gluten Ataxia is Immune Mediated. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Gluten sensitivity is a state of heightened immunological responsiveness triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible individuals. Organ specific manifestations include an enteropathy (coeliac disease) a dermatopathy...

Evidence for dementia in SPAST-Hereditary Spastic Paraparesis. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: Cognitive impairment is recognised in SPAST-hereditary spastic paraparesis (HSP). It is unclear if this represents a dementia. Our aim was to examine SPAST-HSP pedigrees longitudinally for evidence of progressive cognitive decline....

Two clinical presentations of adult onset Rasmussen's syndrome share common Immunological and Pathological features. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Childhood Rasmussen's syndrome (RS) is a focal cortical inflammation causing epilepsy and progressive neurological deficits. We studied six patients to define the clinical and pathological features of adult RS and performed comprehensive...

Epilepsy surgery in patients with additional Psychogenic Seizures. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To assess whether surgery to reduce or control epileptic seizures is safe and effective in patients known to have additional psychogenic seizures. Methods: We reviewed our computerised database of 1342 patients evaluated for...

Exploring the connectivity of band Heterotopia using diffusion tensor imaging. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Introduction: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an MRI method that evaluates the diffusion of water molecules. DTI tractography allows mapping of white matter tracts. Band heterotopia (BHT) is a malformation of cortical development in which...

The prognostic value of intrathecal immune response against axonal components in patients with multiple sclerosis. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Background: We have recently reported a significant correlation between clinical disability and intrathecal release of antibodies against axonal cytoskeleton in patients with primary and secondary-progressive MS. Objectives: To determine...

Mapping the disease locus in a large kindred with generalised epilepsy. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... A large British family with epilepsy underwent careful clinical evaluation using a structured seizure questionnaire. There was similarity to the GEFS plus (generalised epilepsy and febrile seizures plus) phenotype in that affected individuals...

Magnetisation transfer ration and N-acetyl asparate as independent markers of Myelin and Axonal integrity in demyelinating lesions: A magnetic resonance imaging study of central pontine myelinolysis. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR) measurement seems promising as a putative marker of demyelination in the CNS. Small MTR reductions may also occur as a result of axonal loss, oedema, or inflammation. The individual contribution of tissue...

A prospective study of epilepsy surgery in the UK. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... The treatment of epilepsy has been revolutionised by improvements in epilepsy neurosurgery. We wished to determine the number of consultant neurosurgeons performing epilepsy surgery in the United Kingdom and to evaluate prospectively the total...

Dermatitis Herpetiformis, Coeliac Disease, and Neurological Dysfunction. (Proceedings).
January 1, 2002... Objective: To investigate the prevalence of neurological abnormalities in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) and coeliac disease (CD) based on previous data suggesting that gluten is neurotoxic via immune mechanisms. Methods: 35...