Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry articles from March 2004

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry archives from March 2004

Reducing mortality: an important aim of epilepsy management; Reduction of mortality needs to be paramount in the management of epilepsy.(Editorial)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... Epilepsy is often regarded as a benign condition, but there is little doubt that people with epilepsy are two to three times more likely to die prematurely than those without it. (1) The risk is not uniform over the lifetime of a person with...

Predicting functional outcome in acute stroke--prognostic models and clinical judgement: SSV model is a useful research tool.(Editorial Commentaries)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... In their paper (see pp 401), (1) Counsell et al compare a "six simple variable" (SSV) model, which they developed for predicting outcome after stroke, (2) with two other simple models and with clinical predictions of stroke outcome, and find...

Early pathological changes in the parkinsonian brain: DT-MRI may be able to detect early pathological changes in cerebral white matter.(Editorial Commentaries)(Editorial)
March 1, 2004... The short report published in this issue by Yoshikawa et al (pp 481) sheds new light on the clinical use of diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI) in detecting early pathological changes in the parkinsonian brain. (1) With the advent of...

Cerebral perfusion and stroke.(Neuroscience for Neurologists)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:353-361. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.025825 Stroke is a heterogeneous syndrome caused by multiple disease mechanisms, but all result in a disruption of cerebral blood flow with subsequent tissue damage....

Delirium.(Review)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:362-367. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.023366 Delirium is a common cause of mortality and morbidity in older people in hospital, and indicates severe illness in younger patients. Identification of risk...

Idiopathic recurrent stupor: a warning.(Lesson of the Month)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:368-369. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.021691 A proposal that an endogenous benzodiazepine-like agent named endozepine-4 might be responsible for presentations of recurrent stupor has gained wide acceptance....

Eating fats may not affect risk of stroke in men after all.(Echo)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A long term prospective study has reported that eating fats--of whatever type--seems not to affect risk of ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke in men, even though the same researchers earlier reported that omega 3 long chain fatty acids reduced...

Brain metabolic decreases related to the dose of the ApoE e4 allele in Alzheimer's disease.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:370-376 Objectives: Declines in brain glucose metabolism have been described early in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and there is evidence that a genetic predisposition to AD contributes to accelerate this...

Association study of Notch 4 polymorphisms with Alzheimer's disease.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:377-381. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.017368 Background: The NOTCH4 gene is located at 6p21.3, a site shown in several studies to have significant linkage with Alzheimer's disease. Objective: To...

Silas Weir Mitchell and the "rest cure".(Historical Note)(Biography)
March 1, 2004... Weir Mitchell (1) (1829-1914), the American neurologist, renowned for his work on causalgia, was also interested in hysteria. He first encountered it in soldiers during the civil war. In civilian practice when faced with patients with...

Fluctuating cognition in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease is qualitatively distinct.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:382-387. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2002.002576 Objectives: To document and illustrate qualitative features of fluctuating cognition as described by care givers of patients with probable dementia with Lewy...

A short scale for the assessment of motor impairments and disabilities in Parkinson's disease: the SPES/SCOPA.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:388-395 Objectives: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Short Parkinson's Evaluation Scale (SPES)/SCales for Outcomes in Parkinson's disease (SCOPA)--a short scale developed to assess motor...

Use and interpretation of on/off diaries in Parkinson's disease.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:396-400. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.022780 Objective: To explore the use and interpretation of self reported on/off diary data for assessment of daily motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease. ...

Predicting functional outcome in acute stroke: comparison of a simple six variable model with other predictive systems and informal clinical prediction.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:401-405. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.018085 Background: Statistical models that predict functional outcome after stroke using six simple variables (SSV) have recently been developed and validated. ...

Provision of 24 hour acute neurology care by neurologists: manpower requirements in the UK.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:406-409. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.018010 Objectives: The ABN has published standards of care for patients with acute neurological disease. Derriford Hospital provides a 24 hour neurology intake service...

Prospective validation of a proposal for diagnosis and management of patients attending the emergency department for mild head injury.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:410-416 Background: In mild head injury, predictors to select patients for computed tomography (CT) and/or to plan proper management are needed. The strength of evidence of published recommendations is...

Neurophysiological testing correlates with clinical examination according to fibre type involvement and severity in sensory neuropathy.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:417-422. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.019208 Objective: To investigate a comprehensive battery of neurophysiological tests for objective evaluation of sensory neuropathies including fibre type involvement...

Comparative analysis of the spatial distribution and severity of cerebral microbleeds and old lacunes.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:423-427. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.015990 Background: Cerebral microbleeds, which result from microangiopathic changes following chronic hypertension, may reflect bleeding-prone microangiopathy. However,...

Unilateral posterior parietal lobe lesions disrupt kinaesthetic representation of forearm orientation.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:428-435. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.026138 Objective: To apply the lesion method to assess neuroanatomical substrates for judgments of forearm orientation from proprioceptive cues in humans. Methods:...

Acute ophthalmoparesis in the anti-GQ1b antibody syndrome: electrophysiological evidence of neuromuscular transmission defect in the orbicularis oculi.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:436-440. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.023630 Objective: To prospectively study anti-GQ1b antibody positive cases of acute ophthalmoparesis (AO) clinically and electrophysiologically. Methods: Nine...

Diffusion tensor MRI correlates with executive dysfunction in patients with ischaemic leukoaraiosis.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:441-447. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.014910 Background: Cerebral small vessel disease is a common cause of vascular dementia. Both discrete lacunar infarcts and more diffuse ischaemic changes, seen as...

Autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia: SCA2 is the most frequent mutation in eastern India.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:448-452. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2002.004895 Objective: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) has been reported as the commonest dominant hereditary ataxia in India. However, India is an ethnically and...

Removal of large acoustic neurinomas (vestibular schwannomas) by the retrosigmoid approach with no mortality and minimal morbidity.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:453-458. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.010827 Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of removing large acoustic neurinomas ([greater than or equal to]3 cm) by the retrosigmoid approach. Methods:...

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 in Scotland: genetic and clinical features in seven unrelated cases and a review of published reports.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:459-465. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.018895 Objectives: To establish whether the DNA expansion linked to spinocerebellar ataxia type 8 (SCA 8) is associated with ataxia in Scotland; to clarify the range of...

Cerebral motor control in patients with gliomas around the central sulcus studied with spatially filtered magnetoencephalography.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:466-471. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2002.01834 Objective: Application of spatially filtered magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate changes in the mechanism of cerebral motor control in patients with...

Saccade dysfunction associated with chronic petrol sniffing and lead encephalopathy.(Paper)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:472-476. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.019406 Background: In chronic petrol sniffers, recent exposure to high levels of leaded petrol may give rise to a lead encephalopathy characterised by tremor, chorea,...

Cerebral metastasis of renal carcinoma mimicking venous haemorrhagic infarction.(Neurological Picture)
March 1, 2004... Several months after nephrectomy for hypernephroma, a 52 year old woman developed acute demyelinating neuropathy. Paraneoplastic neuropathy was suspected and she was treated with intravenous immunoglobulins (IGs). On the first day of treatment,...

Association of polymorphisms in the Tau and Saitohin genes with Parkinson's disease.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:478-480. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.015750 Background: The Saitohin gene has recently been identified in intron 9 of the Tau gene. Because an association between Parkinson's disease and Tau has been...

Early pathological changes in the parkinsonian brain demonstrated by diffusion tensor MRI.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:481-484. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.021873 Objective: To determine whether the fractional anisotropy (FA) of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging is decreased in the nigrostriatal projection in...

MRI characteristics of sporadic CJD with valine homozygosity at codon 129 of the prion protein gene and Pr[P.sup.Sc] type 2 in Japan.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:485-487. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2002.008011 Two Japanese sporadic Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (sCJD) patients with valine homozygosity at codon 129 of the prion protein gene and protease-resistant prion...

Ictal magnetoencephalographic study in a patient with ring 20 syndrome.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:488-490. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.020438 Objective: To report the ictal magnetoencephalography (MEG) in a patient with ring chromosome 20 mosaicism, a rare chromosomal anomaly associated with intractable...

A systematic review of Terson's syndrome: frequency and prognosis after subarachnoid haemorrhage.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:491-493. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.016816 Objective: To review systematically the frequency and prognostic significance of vitreous haemorrhage in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (Terson's...

Coexistent blepharospasm and hemifacial spasm: overlapping pathophysiologic mechanism?(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:494-496. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.019331 Background/aim: Blepharospasm (BEB) and hemifacial spasm (HFS) appear to be distinct disorders. Clinical characteristics of coexistent BEB and HFS have not been...

The exercise test as a monitor of disease status in hypokalaemic periodic paralysis.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:497-499. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.013870 Objective: To evaluate exercise test responses in hypokalaemic periodic paralysis (HPP), to determine its value as a diagnostic tool and the factors that could...

Female preclinical presenilin-1 mutation carriers unaware of their genetic status have higher levels of depression than their non-mutation carrying kin.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:500-502. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2002.005025 Objectives: To study depressive symptoms in preclinical presenilin-1 (PS1) related Alzheimer's disease. Methods: Participants were 33 Mexican women at risk...

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 with glial cell cytoplasmic inclusions.(Short Report)
March 1, 2004... J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:503-505. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.011825 Glial cell cytoplasmic inclusions were identified in a case of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2. These have not been reported before. The inclusions were found in...

Use of prostacyclin (iloprost) in digital vasculitis secondary to meningococcaemia.(Letters)
March 1, 2004... Extrameningeal complications of meningococcal septicaemia occur in about 11-19% of cases, and include myocarditis, acute renal failure, arthritis, pneumonia, skin gangrene, conjunctivitis, endocarditis, pericarditis, endophthalmitis,...

Etizolam and benzodiazepine induced blepharospasm.(Letters)
March 1, 2004... Drug induced blepharospasm is an independent clinical entity, but it has not been established whether blepharospasms can be induced by benzodiazepine or by thienodiazepine derivatives, which are the most frequently used antipsychotic agents in...

Pure motor stroke with major involvement of the index finger.(Letters)
March 1, 2004... A selective weakness of a particular group of fingers due to cortical infarction has been reported by several authors. (1-3) This finding is related to the controversy over the somatotopic organization of the primary motor cortex (MI)....

The effect of interferon beta-1a on spasticity in primary progressive multiple sclerosis.(Letters)
March 1, 2004... It has been suggested that spasticity may be increased in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) following treatment with interferon beta. (1) In an open study using the Ashworth Scale and a reflex scale, Bramanti et al measured change...

A breathtaking headache.(Letters)
March 1, 2004... Thunderclap headache was the subject of a recent review in this journal, in which the pathophysiology was linked to segmental vasospasm. (1) Specifically, the abrupt onset of the headache was linked to vasospasm caused by neurogenic rather than...

Ischaemic stroke in chagasic patients.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... We read with interest the paper by Carod-Artal et al (1) that showed the relevance of Chagas' disease as a stroke risk factor in patients of South American origin. They also confirmed a textbook view (2) (not hitherto demonstrated) that...

Authors' reply.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... In our recent study, we demonstrated that at least 52.2% of chagasic strokes are due to cardioembolism and 36.8% are of undetermined cause. (1) A significant proportion of these cryptogenic chagasic strokes may also be cardioembolic in origin....

Efficacy of methyprednisolone pulse therapy on neuroleptic malignant syndrome in Parkinson's disease.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... I was astonished to find that Sato and colleagues were able to identify 40 cases of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) in patients with Parkinson's disease from a single institution over three years. (1) At a recent neurosciences grand round...

Authors' reply.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... We greatly appreciate Dr Clark's comments about our work on the efficacy of methylprednisolone pulse therapy in neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) in Parkinson's disease. (1) We agree with him that 40 cases of this syndrome identified from a...

Mesencephalic ischemia and Parkinson's disease.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... I read with interest the paper by Abe et al (1) on occipital and posterior parietal hypoperfusion in 28 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients without dementia. These findings suggest that there was a reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in...

Traumatic brain injury as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... In a recent systematic review of case control studies investigating head injury as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), Fleminger et al (1) replicated the results of the meta-analysis by Mortimer et al (2) in males (OR 2.29; 95% CI from...

The specificity of prescription patterns in secondary stroke prevention.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... We would like to comment on the important report by Landi and colleagues about the factors associated with a reduced likelihood of receiving secondary stroke prevention treatment (1) and present our own data. We have demonstrated that in...

Authors' reply.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... The data presented by Bellelli and Trabucchi confirm our findings suggesting that many older adults do not receive secondary stroke prevention treatment. (1) However, we really do not believe that our results indicate only an "ageist cultural...

Relationship between stridor and sleep apnoea syndrome: is it as simple as that?(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... We read with interest the article by Hirayama et al (1) in which the authors, using an original imaging method, low field magnetic resonance fluoroscopic study, proposed that upper airway obstruction precedes laryngeal occlusion causing the...

Authors' reply.(Correspondence)
March 1, 2004... We would like to thank Dr Ghorayeb et al for their interest in our paper and their comments. We agree with the view that the relation between stridor and apnoea in MSA is very important. (1) Unfortunately, in our experimental procedure, we...

Biological psychiatry, Vol 1 and 2.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Biological psychiatry, Vol 1 and 2 Edited by Hugo A H D'Haenen, Johan A den Boer, and Paul Willner. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 2002, pp 1404, [pounds sterling]345.00. ISBN 0-471-49198-5 The European editors of these...

The bereitschaftspotential movement-related cortical potentials.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... The bereitschaftspotential movement-related cortical potentials Edited by Marjan Jahanshahi and Mark Hallett. Published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, 2003, pp 315, [pounds sterling]150.00. ISBN 0-306-47407-7 The...

Classic cases in neuropsychology, Vol 2.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Classic cases in neuropsychology, Vol 2 Edited by Chris Code, Claus-W Wallesch, Yves Joanette, and AndreRoch Lecours. Published by Taylor & Francis Books Ltd, Hove, 2002, pp 340, [pounds sterling]39.95. ISBN 0-86377-891-7 Why read the...

Assessment of aphasia.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Assessment of aphasia Edited by Otfried Spreen and Anthony H Risser. Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003, pp 320, [pounds sterling]32.50. ISBN 0-19-514075-3 This book surveys existing tests for people with aphasia, with...

Intraoperative imaging in neurosurgery MRI, CT and ultrasound.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... Intraoperative imaging in neurosurgery MRI, CT and ultrasound Edited by R L Bernays, H-G Imhof, and Y Yonekawa. Published by Springer Wien, Vienna, 2003, pp 144, [euro]88. ISBN 3-211-83835-X This book forms part of a series of symposia...

New frontiers of MR-based techniques in multiple sclerosis.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... New frontiers of MR-based techniques in multiple sclerosis Edited by Massimo Filippi and Giancarlo Comi. Published by Springer-Verlag, Italy, 2003, pp 107, [euro]49.95. ISBN 88-470-0198-6 Magnetic resonance (MR) is the single most...

History of neurology in The Netherlands.(Book Reviews)(Book Review)
March 1, 2004... History of neurology in The Netherlands Edited by J A M Frederiks, G W Bruyn, and P Eling. Published by Boom Publishers, Amsterdam, 2002, pp 401, [euro]42.00. ISBN 90-5352-686-2 Pride of place in the first century or so of Dutch...

Abnormalities in cardiac rhythm revealed in patients with refractory epilepsy.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: In the United Kingdom over 500 deaths per year are attributable to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). SUDEP may be caused by potentially avoidable fatal cardiac arrhythmias and asystole following seizures. Methods: We...

The value of the electrocardiograph (ECG) in a First Seizure Clinic.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Current guidelines recommend recording a standard 12 lead ECG in patients presenting with suspected seizures. The yield from this investigation is unknown. We reviewed 163 (of 164) consecutive cases seen in a First Seizure Clinic...

Physiological imaging of interictal epileptiform activity using simultaneous EEG-correlated functional MRI.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Aim: To characterise and map bloody oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal changes linked to interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), a large group of patients with focal epilepsy. Methods: 50 patients with localisation-related epilepsy and...

Different patterns of electrophysiological deficit in manifesting and non-manifesting carriers of the DYT1 gene.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: A mutation in the DYT1 gene on chromosome 9q34 causes early-onset primary torsion dystonia (PTD) with autosomal dominant inheritance but low phenotypic penetrance. The aim of the present study was to assess the functional...

PD LIFE--a prospective multi-centre longitudinal audit of Quality of Life in Parkinson's disease across the UK.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: PDLIFE is a clinician led multicentre prospective national audit monitoring (a) changes in Quality of Life in response to treatment (QoL), (b) prescribing trends of anti-PD drugs across the United Kingdom (UK) and (c) identify...

Parkin is recruited into aggresomes in a stress-specific manner and its overexpression reduces aggresome formation.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Mutations in the parkin gene cause autosomal recessive juvenile parkinsonism (AR-JP). Parkin is present in Lewy bodies (LBs) of sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD) brains. However, LBs are not a feature of AR-JP brains suggesting that parkin may...

High density single nucleotide polymorphism mapping of protein kinase C alpha gene in a UK population of multiple sclerosis patients.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Introduction: Linkage studies in multiple sclerosis (MS) families have implicated a 2.5 Mb region of chromosome 17q22-24. Protein kinase C alpha (PRKCA) maps to this interval and is involved in both T cell regulation and proliferative...

The relationship between function and structure of the posterior visual pathways following optic neuritis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Introduction: Previous MRI studies have independently demonstrated functional changes in the visual cortex and structural changes in the optic radiations following optic neuritis. We investigated how visual cortex function and optic radiation...

Oligoclonal band negative MS--does it exist.(Author Abstract)
March 1, 2004... Objective: To study the features and reliability of the diagnosis of oligoclonal band (OCB) negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) multiple sclerosis (MS), with reference to the diagnostic criteria for MS. Method: A retrospective, sex-matched,...

Distinct profiles of chemokine receptor expression in pattern II and III multiple sclerosis lesions.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Introduction: Four subtypes (pattern I-IV) of multiple sclerosis were identified based on neuropathological features. Pattern II and III account for 83% of cases. The mechanisms of myelin injury in subtypes of MS are not well understood....

Spinal cord atrophy in early Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: Spinal cord symptoms are a common presenting feature in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) and may result from underlying neurodegenerative processes. This study assesses cord atrophy in early PPMS using two techniques...

The origin and evolution of the arthropod-borne virus, Japanese encephalitis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Encephalitides caused by arthropod-borne viruses are becoming increasingly important globally, with the spread of West Nile virus to Europe and the United States, and the continuing spread of Japanese encephalitis in Asia. However, the origins,...

Neither blindsight nor oversight but mindsight: pathological completion without evidence of neglect following damage to occipital cortex.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Homonymous scotomata may be accompanied by the subjective experience of completion of forms that "should" be occluded by the visual defect, a symptom termed Pathological Visual Completion. We report a single case whose experience of completion...

Focal venous infarction of the supplementary eye field reveals its function.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The specific contribution of the 'supplementary' eye field (SEF) to the control of eye movements has eluded both electrophysiological investigations in monkeys and functional imaging studies in healthy humans. Here, we present detailed imaging...

The clinical phenotype of non-paraneoplastic voltage gated potassium channel antibody (VGKC Ab) associated CNS disease.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... VGKC-Ab associated limbic encephalitis with titres above 400 pM has recently been described. Here we screened patients with unexplained cognitive and/or behavioural symptoms for VGKC Abs, over a 4 year period in a general neurology clinic...

Precise volume measurements of low-grade gliomas. Some surprising findings.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: Little is known about the growth rates of low-grade gliomas (LGGs) during their 'premalignant' phase. We have developed a technique that can measure tumour volumes semi-automatically and hence determine tumour growth rates. ...

Functional paresis--paradoxes in illness beliefs and disability in 107 subjects.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Objective: (1) To describe distress, disability and illness beliefs in consecutive patients presenting to neurologists with functional paresis and (2) to compare with these with patients who have neurological paresis. Methods: Consecutive...

Potassium channel antibody associated encephalitis: a potentially treatable non-paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: Three cases of non-paraneoplastic reversible limbic encephalitis (LE) associated with voltage-gated potassium channel antibodies (VGKC-Ab) have previously been reported. We aimed to define the phenotypic features of this syndrome in...

Synthetic disialyl-galactose immunoabsorbents clear pathogenic anti-GQ1b ganglioside autoantibodies from serum in Guillain Barre syndromes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Guillain Barre syndrome frequently follows Campylobacter jejuni enteritis and molecular mimicry between carbohydrate epitopes on nerve gangliosides and the lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of C. jejuni accounts for the harmful autoimmune responses...

Ophthalmoplegia: when all the tests are negative.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The differential diagnosis of ophthalmoplegia can be difficult. Mitochondrial disease is a common cause of ophthalmoplegia in those patients without a demonstrable neuromuscular junction abnormality. Muscle biopsy is considered diagnostic in...

Involuntary movements, sensory symptoms and early psychiatric features in sporadic versus variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: Variant CJD (vCJD) typically presents with psychiatric features, early involuntary movements and sensory symptoms whereas sporadic CJD (sCJD) typically presents with rapid cognitive decline. Atypical sCJD is the most important...

The critical time window for reorganisation of the corticospinal tracts ends close to the perinatal period in man.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Aim: To investigate the critical time window for plasticity of the ipsilesional and contra-lesional corticospinal tract (CST) in man. Subjects: All sustained unilateral stoke; 32 perinatally, 15 in childhood (>0.1-13 years), 13 as adults....

Genetic epidemiology of ischaemic stroke.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... To design molecular genetic studies of stroke we need reliable genetic epidemiology. To determine whether family history (FHx) of stroke is a predictor of incident ischaemic stroke we studied unpublished data from the ongoing Oxford Vascular...

Use of quantified acetazolamide activated xenon enhanced computerized tomography (aXeCT) in the selection of patients for extracranial to intracranial (ECIC) bypass surgery.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Objective: To determine the outcome following ECIC bypass in patients with symptomatic carotid occlusive disease who display markedly reduced cerebrovascular reserve on aXeCT. Indication for surgery was the absence of significant cerebral blood...

Neural correlates of initial severity after stroke: a cross sectional fMRI study.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Cerebral reorganisation after stroke may be studied in the human brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It has recently been demonstrated that chronic stroke patients with poorer outcome are more likely to recruit non-primary...

Are there differences in the risk factor profiles of lacunar and non-lacunar infarcts? A systemic review.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Background: The arterial pathology of lacunar infarction (LACI) is poorly understood. Comparing risk factor profiles of LACI and non-lacunar infarction (non-LACI) may improve our understanding. Methods: We performed a systematic review of...