Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry articles from June 2002

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry archives from June 2002

Can we afford to develop treatments for dementia? Can we afford not to develop treatments for dementia? (Dementia).
June 1, 2002... This issue and that of the BMJ (22nd June 2002), are dedicated to neuro-degenerative disorders. We have come a long way in this field over the past two decades or so. Twenty years ago we knew only that Alzheimer's disease (AD) affected many...

"Nature versus nurture" and incompletely penetrant mutations: lessons from twin studies of Parkinson's disease. (Parkinson's Disease).
June 1, 2002... The debate over the relative roles of "nature versus nurture" remains unresolved in many fields of study, from childhood education to animal behaviour or neurodegenerative disorders. Points of view frequently are polarised, either nature or...

Behavioural disorders, Parkinson's disease, and subthalamic stimulation: stimulation of the bilateral subthalamic nucleus can have adverse consequences. (Behavioural Disorders).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... The paper by Houeto et al (1) in this issue (pp 701-707) offers new evidence to suggest that bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation can have adverse and potentially serious consequences for patients and their families, despite the...

Hypertension+MRI changes=impaired cognition: a quantifiable formula? (Impaired Cognition).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... As both the average age of the population and rates of vascular dementia increase, there has been keen interest in measuring and quantifying determinants of cognitive impairment. Koga et al (this issue pp 737-741) (1) quantify brain MRI...

Presenile dementia syndromes: an update on taxonomy and diagnosis. (Advances in Neuropsychiatry).
June 1, 2002... The four major degenerative dementias that often begin in presenescence: are reviewed. These are Alzheimer' s disease, frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Their epidemiological, genetic, and...

Behavioural disorders, Parkinson's disease and subthalamic stimulation. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objective: to analyse 24 parkinsonian patients successfully treated by bilateral STN stimulation for the presence of behavioural disorders. Method: patients were evaluated retrospectively for adjustment disorders (social adjustment scale,...

Donepezil for cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease: a randomised controlled study. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objective: To study the safety and efficacy of the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and cognitive impairment. Methods: This was a double blind, randomised and placebo controlled, crossover study...

Pramipexole in patients with Parkinson's disease and marked drug resistant tremor: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled multicentre study. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objective: To compare the tremorlytic properties of pramipexole, a non-ergoline dopamine agonist to those of placebo as add on medication in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods: Eighty four patients with early or advanced...

Incidence and prediction of falls in Parkinson's disease: a prospective multidisciplinary study. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objectives: To accurately establish the incidence of falls in Parkinson's disease (PD) and to investigate predictive risk factors for fallers from baseline data. Methods: 109 subjects with idiopathic PD diagnosed according to the brain...

Autonomic nervous system function in Huntington's disease. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objective: To investigate whether Huntington's disease (HD) affects autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning. Methods: Twenty patients with HD who had positive genetic test results underwent standardised ANS function tests including...

Lipoprotein(a), apolipoprotein E genotype, and risk of Alzheimer's disease. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objectives: To explore the possible role of serum lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)), apolipoprotein E polymorphism, and total cholesterol (TC) serum concentrations in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Lp(a) serum concentrations, apolipoprotein E...

Hughlings Jackson's "imperception" and anosognosia. (Historical Note).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... One of the earliest to attempts to localise specific functions to anatomical regions of the brain was that of Franz Joseph Gall, (1) who distinguished six varieties of memory, which he localised in the frontal lobes. Auburtin in 1864 related...

Quantitative MRI findings and cognitive impairment among community dwelling elderly subjects. (Paper).(magnetic resonance imaging)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objectives: To study the factors which influence cognitive impairment among elderly subjects living in a local community, based on both MRI and clinical findings, to further elucidate the causes of dementia, and also to help develop strategies...

White matter damage in Alzheimer's disease assessed in vivo using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objective: To investigate the extent and the nature of white matter tissue damage of patients with Alzheimer's disease using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI). Background: Although Alzheimer's disease pathology mainly...

Patients with vascular dementia due to microvascular pathology have significant hippocampal neuronal loss. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterised by functional impairment, cerebral atrophy, and degeneration of specific neuronal populations, especially pyramidal neurones of the cerebral cortex and hippocampal formation. Although...

Outcome of ventilatory support for acute respiratory failure in motor neurone disease. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objectives: To review the outcome of acute ventilatory support in patients presenting acutely with respiratory failure, either with an established diagnosis of motor neurone disease (MND) or with a clinical event where the diagnosis of MND has...

Abnormalities of the corpus callosum in first episode, treatment naive schizophrenia. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Background: Structural alterations in the association cortices as well as in the corpus callosum (CC) have been described in schizophrenia, and have been considered to reflect developmental abnormalities. Areas of primary and association...

Multifocal motor neuropathy: clinical and immunological features and response to IVIg in relation to the presence and degree of motor conduction block. (Paper).(intravenous immunoglobulin)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objective: To determine whether patients with clinically typical multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) with or without definite or probable conduction block (CB) differ in terms of clinical presentation, immunological findings, or response to...

Anti-GT1 a IgG in Guillain-Barre syndrome. (Paper).(ganglioside)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objective: To investigate the presence of serum anti-GT1 a IgG in Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) and its relation to clinical manifestations. Background: Several patients with GBS and bulbar palsy have been reported to have serum anti-GT1 a...

Psychosocial outcomes at three and nine months after good neurological recovery from aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage: predictors and prognosis. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2002... Objectives: To investigate (1) the prevalence of various aspects of cognitive and psychosocial dysfunction, including post-traumatic stress symptoms, over nine months after subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH); (2) whether SAH is preceded by...

Prognostic value of platelet derived growth factor [alpha] receptor expression in grade 2 astrocytomas and oligoastrocytomas. (Paper).
June 1, 2002... Objective: To determine whether the expression of platelet derived growth factor [alpha] receptor (PDGFR[alpha]) in low grade astrocytomas and oligoastrocytomas is associated with survival. Methods: Formalin fixed and paraffin embedded...

Neurological stamp.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Luis Morquio (1867-1935) Luis Morquio qualified in medicine from the University of Montevideo in 1892. After the completion of his medical training in Paris he studied at the Pasteur Institute. He specialised in paediatrics. In 1894 he...

Rapidly progressive dementia syndrome associated with a novel tour extra repeat mutation in the prion protein gene. (Short Report).
June 1, 2002... Objective: To gain a better understanding of how mutations of the prion protein (PrP) gene are responsible for progressive dementia syndrome and to clarify the correlation between genotype and phenotype, which should help to explain how the...

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease 38 years after diagnostic use of human growth hormone. (Short Report).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A 47 year old man is described who developed pathology proven Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) 38 years after receiving a low dose of human derived growth hormone (hGH) as part of a diagnostic procedure. The patient presented with a cerebellar...

Longitudinal analysis of the effect of apolipoprotein E [epsilon]4 and education on cognitive performance in elderly subjects: the PAQUID study. (Short Report).
June 1, 2002... Background: The apolipoprotein E (apoE) [epsilon]4 allele has been shown to be a risk factor for dementia, but it is not clear to what extent apoE affects overall cognitive function in non-demented elderly subjects, or how this risk may be...

Sleep disorders and their determinants in multiple system atrophy. (Short Report).
June 1, 2002... Objectives: To evaluate the incidence, types, determinants, and consequences of sleep disorders in patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and determine whether their characteristics are similar to those of patients with Parkinson's disease...

Phenocopies in a large GCH1 mutation positive family with dopa responsive dystonia: confusing the picture? (Short Report).
June 1, 2002... Background: Dopa responsive dystonia (DRD) is a disorder characterised by childhood onset dystonia but a wide range of clinical presentations has now been described. Objective: To study a large Canadian family with presumed DRD. ...

Phosphorus MR spectroscopy shows a tissue specific in vivo distribution of biochemical expression of the G3460A mutation in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. (Short Report).
June 1, 2002... Occipital lobe and calf muscle energy metabolism were studied in viva by magnetic resonance spectroscopy ([P-MRS.sup.31]) in four members of a family harbouring the mitochondrial DNA G3460A mutation causing Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy...

Role of anterior and occipital white matter lesions for smooth eye tracking in myotonic dystrophy. (Short Report).
June 1, 2002... Background: The degradation of smooth pursuit eye movements (SP) in myotonic dystrophy (MD) has been shown to result from lesions in the central nervous system. Imaging and histopathological studies have shown considerable areas of white matter...

Alteration of the cortical motor map in a patient with intractable focal seizures. (Short Report).
June 1, 2002... Patients with epilepsia partialis continua may develop progressive neurological deficits of unclear origin. It is possible that repetitive epileptic spikes induce plastic changes in the cortex analogous to the changes observed following direct...

Myelopathy from intracranial dural arteriovenous fistula. (Lesson on the Month).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Dural arteriovenous fistulas arising intracranially are an uncommon cause of progressive myelopathy. This report is of a patient in whom the diagnosis of the condition was confounded by coexisting small vessel cerebrovascular disease. A 68...

Gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging demonstration of a mycotic aneurysm. (Neurological Picture).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... A 64 year old woman with one week of low grade fever and malaise was found unconscious at home. On arrival at hospital, she was obtunded but had intact brainstem reflexes. She was febrile and a heart murmur was auscultated. Head computed...

Letters.
June 1, 2002... Anticipation in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with SOD1-G93S mutation A myotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterised by the degeneration of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brain stem, and motor...

Correspondence.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2002... Experiential phenomenon on cortical stimulation I read with interest the short report "Human 'memories' can be evoked by stimulation of the lateral temporal cortex after ipsilateral medial temporal lobe resection", by Moriarity et al. (1)...

Neuroanatomical Basis of Clinical Neurology.
June 1, 2002... By Orhan Arslan (Pp 432, [pounds sterling]33.99). Published by Parthenon Publishing, Lancaster, 2001 ISBN 1 85070 578 Medical students find neuroanatomy difficult and often boring. A ruse that many teachers use is to refer to clinical...

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the British Neuropsychiatry Association. (NPA Abstracts).
June 1, 2002... Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the British Neuropsychiatry Association, the Institute of Child Health, central London, 21-22 February 2002. (NPA Abstracts) NEUROPSYCHIATRIC ASPECTS OF NEW VARIANT CJD E.C. Johnstone. University of...

Headache.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Headache is the most common cause of referral to neurologists. You would find this difficult to believe on reading most neurological journals--an observation that has been recently quantified. (1) However, there have been exciting advances in...

Chronic daily headache.
June 1, 2002... Chronic daily headache (CDH) describes a group of patients whose problem is self evident--they have a lot of headache--but whose management can be among the most challenging that neurologists face. We find it useful to employ the term in its...

New daily persistent headache.
June 1, 2002... Chronic daily headache, defined as headache on 15 days or more per month for more than three months, is covered generally in another section of this supplement. However, because the syndrome of "new daily persistent headache" (NDPH) is so...

Surfing for headache. (World Wide Web).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Web sites for headache vary tremendously in their usefulness to physician and patient. There are those set up by national and international organisations aimed at the clinician and concerned with the structure and organisation of the relevant...

Migraine: diagnosis and management.
June 1, 2002... One in 10 people have migraine. The patient's history is the essential diagnostic tool. Treatment options include acute rescue, lifestyle strategies, alternative remedies, and prophylactic drugs. Most patients are managed in primary care; many...

Colloid cyst of the third ventricle. (Images in Neurology).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2002... Colloid cysts are relatively unusual (1.5% neurosurgically treated tumours) benign intracranial masses located in the rostral aspect of the IIIrd ventricle. As they grow they obstruct the foramen of Munro producing hydrocephalus of the lateral...

US guidelines on neuroimaging in patients with non-acute headache: a commentary.
June 1, 2002... The US Headache Consortium is a group of 14 US doctors (mainly academic neurologists) who aim to "develop scientifically sound, clinically relevant practice guidelines on chronic headache in the primary care setting". (1) The consortium has...

Trigeminal autonomic cephalgias.
June 1, 2002... The trigeminal autonomic cephalgias (TACs) are a group of primary headache disorders characterised by unilateral trigeminal distribution pain that occurs in association with prominent ipsilateral cranial autonomic features. (1) The group...

Facial pain: neurological and non-neurological.
June 1, 2002... The article will give the reader: * An overview of facial pain in terms of epidemiology, classification, diagnosis and management * Three case histories on which to try out diagnostic skills * An overview of management of three...

Acute headache in the emergency department.
June 1, 2002... About one fifth of the patients seen by a general neurologist in the UK will present with headache; the majority have a chronic or stable syndrome (mostly migraine and chronic daily headache). Most patients are assessed in the relative peace...

The Chiari malformations.
June 1, 2002... Dr Hans Chiari (1) first described three hindbrain disorders associated with hydrocephalus in 1891. They have neither an anatomical nor embryological correlation with each other, but they all involve the cerebellum and spinal cord and are...