Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry articles from May 2002

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry archives from May 2002

Is clinical neurology really so difficult? Neurosciences need to be made more accessible for medical students. (Neurological Education).(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Neurology, it seems, has a reputation among medical specialties of being particularly difficult. This was highlighted in the British Medical Journal in 1999 (1) when the editor wrote, "the neurologist is one of the great archetypes: a...

Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness: from gut to brain. (Gluten Sensitivity).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... It has taken nearly 2000 years to appreciate that a common dietary protein introduced to the human diet relatively late in evolutionary terms (some 10 000 years ago), can produce human disease not only of the gut but also the skin and the...

"Sick" MRI syndrome: at this time, MRI is a better indicator of tissue outcome rather than clinical destiny. (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).(magnetic resonance imaging in stroke)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... The report by Marx et al (this issue, pp572-575) (1) joins the ever growing literature dealing with multiparametric MRI studies of tissue characteristics in stroke. Markers of ischaemic perturbations of cell homoeostasis and perfusion,...

White matter change and stroke risk. (Stroke Risk).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Large cohort studies have defined an increasing range of therapeutic interventions that can be applied to reduce stroke risk. However, application of these in a specialist practice is complicated by the problem of interindividual variation. A...

Qualitative performance characteristics differentiate dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease. (Dementia).
May 1, 2002... New approach to assessment of patients with dementia with Lewy bodies is clinically useful in differentiating them from patients with Alzheimer's disease Accurate and early clinical diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is essential...

Benefits and risks of folic acid to the nervous system. (Review).
May 1, 2002... During three decades of neurological practice I have witnessed a remarkable change in attitudes to the benefits and risks of folic acid therapy in nervous system disorders. In the 1960s all that was known and taught was that folic acid was...

Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of reversible ischaemic deficits of the brainstem. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Methods: A total of 158 consecutive patients presenting with acute signs of brainstem dysfunction were investigated using EPI diffusion weighted MRI within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms. High resolution T1 and T2 weighted imaging was...

Significance of white matter high intensity lesions as a predictor of stroke from Arteriolosclerosis. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objectives: To determine whether the extent of white matter high intensity lesions (WML) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an independent predictor of risk for stroke from arteriolosclerosis, and whether serial evaluation of WML can be...

Continuous monitoring of cerebrovascular autoregulation: a validation study. (Paper).(traumatic brain injury)(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Background: Continuous monitoring of dynamic cerebral autoregulation, using a moving correlation index of cerebral perfusion pressure and mean middle cerebral artery flow velocity, may be useful in patients with severe traumatic brain injury to...

Magnetic resonance brain imaging in people with dizziness: a comparison with non-dizzy people. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Background: Dizziness is a common symptom affecting about 30% of people over the age of 65. Objective: To investigate the hypothesis that structural abnormalities of the brain and cervical cord are more common in dizzy than in non-dizzy...

Is cardiovascular disease a risk factor in the development of axonal polyneuropathy? (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objectives: To determine if cardiovascular disease may be a risk factor in the development of chronic idiopathic axonal polyneuropathy (CIAP). Methods: In this incidence case-control study, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and risk...

Historical notes: Cheyne-Stokes respiration.
May 1, 2002... Neurologists who care for emergencies often encounter Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Abnormal breathing, in which periods of apnoea alternate with a series of gradually increasing depth and frequency, followed by a similar decrease is said to have...

Clinimetric evaluation of a new overall disability scale in immune mediated polyneuropathies. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... for the Inflammatory Neuropathy Cause and Treatment (INCAT) group Objectives: To determine the validity, reliability, and responsiveness of a new overall disability sum score in immune mediated polyneuropathies. Methods: Three...

Qualitative performance characteristics differentiate dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease. (Paper).
May 1, 2002... Objectives: To determine whether dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) can be differentiated on the basis of qualitative performance characteristics during neuropsychological evaluation. Methods: Forty one patients...

What are the determinants of quality of life in people with cervical dystonia? (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Background: Little is known about the quality of life in patients with cervical dystonia, although pain and depression are relatively common. Objective: To test the hypothesis that an individual's ability to cope with the disease will...

Psychiatric illness and subsequent traumatic brain injury: a case control study. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objective: To determine whether psychiatric illness is a risk factor for subsequent traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: Case control study in a large staff model health maintenance organisation in western Washington State. Patients with...

Quantitative analysis of the velocity related pathophysiology of spasticity and rigidity in the elbow flexors. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objective: To quantify velocity dependent and position related properties of increased muscle tone measured during a constant velocily stretch. Methods: Elbow flexors were vertically stretched under four different velocities (40, 80, 120,...

Diagnostic value of history and physical examination in patients suspected of lumbosacral nerve root compression. (Paper).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objective: To evaluate patient characteristics, symptoms, and examination findings in the clinical diagnosis of lumbosacral nerve root compression causing sciatica. Methods: The study involved 274 patients with pain radiating into the leg....

Familial adult onset of Krabbe's disease resembling hereditary spastic paraplegia with normal neuroimaging. (Short Report).
May 1, 2002... Krabbe's disease (globoid cell leucodystrophy) is a disorder involving the white matter of the peripheral and central nervous systems. Mutations in the gene for the lysosomal enzyme galactocerebrosidase [GALC] result in low enzymatic activity...

Apolipoprotein E polymorphism in German patients with frontotemporal degeneration. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objectives: The apolipoprotein E (apoE) polymorphism. designated as [euro]2, [euro]3, [euro]4, is a genetic risk factor associated with several forms of dementia. Inconclusive results have been reported in patients with frontotemporal...

Serum leptin level in women with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Leptin is a protein secreted by adipose cells which influences regulation of energy balance and body weight neurological disorder mainly affecting obese females. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between IIH and, serum...

Immunoadsorption inferior to plasma exchange in a patient with chronic inflammatoy demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Staphylococcal protein A immunoadsorption and plasma exchange were compared for treating chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy. In a single patient. plasma exchange had a more beneficial effect than immunoadsorption clinical...

Anticardiolipin antibodies in patients with multiple sclerosis do not represent a subgroup of patients according to clinical, familial, and biological characteristics. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Background: In multiple sclerosis (MS), case control studies have shown that anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL Ab) are more frequent than in the general population and that aCL Ab positivity may be associated with specific clinical...

Human T cell leukaemia virus type I associated neuromuscular disease causing respiratory failure. (Short Report).
May 1, 2002... Polymyositis and inclusion body myositis have rarely been described in association with human T cell leukaemia virus type I (HTLV-I) infection. Most of such patients have coexisting HTLV-I associated myelopathy (HAM) Two patients with HTLV-I...

Progressive myoclonic ataxia and JC virus encephalitis in an AIDS patient. (Short Report).
May 1, 2002... A case of progressive myoclonic ataxia in an AIDS patient is described, which evolved over a 13 month period. The ataxia persisted as the only clinical finding for several months before the appearance of a severe tetraparesis and cachexia....

Transcranial Doppler sonography during head up tilt suggests preserved central sympathetic activation in familial dysautonomia. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objective: Cerebral autoregulation was assessed by transcranial Doppler sonography in 10 patients with familial dysautonomia and 10 age matched controls. Methods: Blood pressure, heart rate, and middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity...

Sleep symptoms and polysomnographic architecture in advanced Parkinson's disease after chronic bilateral subthalamic stimulation. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objective: To evaluate the sleep symptoms and polysomnographic architecture in advanced Parkinson's disease after chronic bilateral subthalamic stimulation (STN-DBS). Methods: Sleep was studied in 11 patients (six women and five men; mean...

Neurological stamp: Josef Brudzinski (1874-1917).(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... Joseph Brudzinski was a Polish physician who graduated from Moscow in 1897 and specialised in paediatrics. He subsequently became interested in abnormal reflexes associated with meningitis. After performing animal experiments he came to the...

Thixotropy of levator palpebrae as the cause of lagophthalmos after peripheral facial nerve palsy. (Short Report).
May 1, 2002... Patients with facial nerve palsy are at risk of developing corneal ulceration because of lagophthalmos (incomplete closure of the affected eyelid). Lagophthalmos could result from thixotropy of the levator palpebrae muscle--that is, the...

Neurological picture: cervical subarachnoid floating cavernous malformation presenting with recurrent subarachnoid haemorrhage.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2002... A 61 year old man was admitted to our department due to recurrent episodes of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAN). He had been previously healthy except for a 10 year history of hypertension. One year ago, SAH had occurred but four vessel cerebral...

Post-traumatic epilepsy in children requiring inpatient rehabilitation following head injury. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
May 1, 2002... Objective: To study the prevalence of, and identify possible risk factors for, the development of post-traumatic epilepsy in a cohort of children with severe head injury treated in an inpatient rehabilitation unit. Methods: The hospital...

Simultaneous onset of haemorrhagic and ischaemic strokes in a haemodialysis patient. (Lesson of the Month).
May 1, 2002... Primary brain haemorrhage and infarction only very rarely occur simultaneously. A patient with end stage renal disease from diabetic nephropathy suddenly had motor aphasia and horizontal nystagmus soon after finishing hoemodialysis....

Letters.
May 1, 2002... Apolipoprotein E and neurocognitive outcome from coronary artery surgery The apolipoprotcin E (apoE) gene (APOE) is polymorphic with three alleles, [epsilon]2, [epsilon]3, and [epsilon]4, which give rise to three isoforms, E2, E3 and E4....

Corrections.(Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 2002;72:416-17 and 2002;72:297-9)(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2002... J Stone, M Sharpe, G Elrington. Amnesia for childhood in patients with unexplained neurological symptoms. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2002;72:416-17. During the production process G Elrington's name was omitted. The author list should read as...

Correspondence.(apomorphine for treating Parkinson's disease)
May 1, 2002... Apomorphine as an alternative to sildenafil in Parkinson's disease I was interested in the recent paper by Hussain et al (1) describing the efficacy of sildenafil citrate for erectile dysfunction in patients with Parkinson's disease or...

Practical Psychiatry of Old Age, 3rd ed. (Book Reviews).
May 1, 2002... Edited by J P Wattis, S Curran (Pp 268, [pounds sterling]24.95). Published by Radcliffe Medical Press Ltd, Abingdon, 2001. ISBN 1857752457 It is a curious thing that old age psychiatry is such a geographically weak discipline. There are...

Brain Imaging in Schizophrenia, Insights and Applications. (Book Reviews).
May 1, 2002... Edited by T Sharma, X Chitnis (Pp 74, [pounds sterling]12.50). Remedica Publishing, London, 2000. ISBN 1901346080 This is a succinct overview of brain imaging studies in schizophrenia and is well illustrated with scan photographs. The first...

Parkinson's Disease in the Older Patient. (Book Reviews).
May 1, 2002... Edited by J R Playfer, J V Hindle (Pp 370, [pounds sterling]55.00). Arnold, London, 2001. ISBN 0340759143 This is a welcome addition to the literature. The book has been published with the help and support of the British Geriatrics Society...

Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System, 11th ed.
May 1, 2002... Edited by M Donaghy (Pp 1242, [pounds sterling]150.00). Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0192626183 Lord Brain left us two neurological textbooks. The smaller, Brain's clinical neurology, subsequently revised by Sir...

Textbook of Clinical Neuropsychiatry. (Book Reviews).
May 1, 2002... Edited by D P Moore (Pp 747, [pounds sterling]69.50). Arnold, London, 2001. ISBN 0340806249 There is a certain logic to the system Moore uses in his textbook of clinical neuropsychiatry. The first half of the book essentially consists of...

Wolff's Headache and Other Head Pain, 7th edn. (Book Reviews).
May 1, 2002... Edited by S D Silberstein, R B Lipton, D J Dalessio (Pp 625, US$99.00). Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001. ISBN 0195135180 There can be few people still alive who came under the direct influence of Harold G Wolff before his death in...

Multiple Sclerosis: Tissue Destruction and Repair.
May 1, 2002... Edited by L Kappos, K Johnson, J Kesselring and E W Radu (Pp 350, [pounds sterling]65.00). Published by Martin Dunitz Ltd, London, 2001. ISBN 1 85617 872 1 The Martin Dunitz imprint produces high quality books with catchy titles often...

Current Management in Child Neurology, 2nd edn. (Book Reviews).
May 1, 2002... Edited by Bernard L Maria (Pp 562, US$74.95). Published by BC Decker Inc, Hamilton, 2002. ISBN 155009162X Management includes assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. What emerges therefore is a book of clinical paediatric neurology--not a...