Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Gaston

Publications and source records attributed to A Gaston.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Vertebral osteomyelitis: disk hypodensity on CT.

The importance and role of computed tomography (CT) are discussed on the basis of 36 cases of vertebral osteomyelitis. The bone images themselves, the detection of lumbar disk hypodensity, and the exploration of soft paraspinal regions in the search for an abscess are factors that contribute to the superiority of this method in difficult cases. In cases where the diagnosis is already known, CT offers an excellent method to assess the extent of the lesions. Its accuracy, coupled with its rapidity and noninvasive nature, affects the role of conventional tomography, a method that is incomplete and involves higher radiation doses. CT offers an excellent method for follow-up after treatment of vertebral osteomyelitis.

Abscess↗
PubMed1981

[Effect of availability of computer tomography on activity in an emergency neuroradiological department (author's transl)].

Overall activity in an emergency neuroradiological department was altered when computed tomography facilities became available, as shown by comparative studies conducted during one year without and one year with the use of this investigational method. More examinations were conducted during the year the apparatus was available, and the diagnostic approach to patients with head or brain injuries was modified, computed tomography replacing the arteriography used as an initial examination during the first year. These findings can be related to the rapidity, safety, and diagnostic precision of computed tomography examinations.

Brain↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The impact on the international literature of the scientific production of Italian researchers in the disciplines "psychiatry" and "psychology". A bibliometric evaluation].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to present the results of a citation analysis concerned with the impact of Italian researchers and institutions in psychiatry and psychology upon the international scientific community. METHOD: The analysis has been performed using a database of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI): All scientific papers which were published between 1981 and 1998 in psychiatric and psychological journals included in the Science Citation Index (SCI) and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) were considered. The most cited Italian papers, authors and institutions are reported, as well the most frequently utilised journals. RESULTS: Publications concerned with neuropsychology, psychopharmacology and biological psychiatry were the most cited. This prevalence also affected the ranking of the most cited authors, even though, in this case, research groups in disciplines such as clinical psychology and epidemiological psychiatry appeared to be strong. The four most productive Italian Universities were characterized by the presence of both a School of Medicine and a School of Psychology. The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology were the most frequent vehicles of scientific communication. CONCLUSIONS: The results entail important implications for Italian research in psychology and psychiatry. On a general level, these analyses appear to be helpful for monitoring scientific production by granting agencies and for comparing different individual researchers. On a more specific level the analysis has identified the leading trends in research of Italian psychiatry and psychology.

Bibliometrics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cortical blindness during chemotherapy: clinical, CT, and MR correlations.

Two patients treated by chemotherapy for a non-Hodgkin malignant lymphoma developed focal neurological symptoms including disorientation, hemoplegia, and cortical blindness 5 and 15 days after the end of a polychemotherapy course, including methotrexate and vindesine. In both patients ECG and blood pressure were normal. Case 1 had a slight increase of protein level without cells on CSF examination and presented with a paralytic ileus. Case 2 developed an inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (IADHS) syndrome. In both cases, noncontrast CT scans showed bilateral, symmetrical low density areas within the temporooccipital regions. Postcontrast CT images stressed major cortical and subcortical enhancement predominantly over the gray matter. In Case 2 the lesions also affected the right parietal lobe. Magnetic resonance scans 2-3 weeks after the onset of neurological symptoms demonstrated low intensity signal lesions on T1-weighted images and bright signal on T2-weighted images. In Case 1 the visual deficit failed to regress and in Case 2 the patient died 2 months later because of the natural evolution of her lymphoma. The clinical and radiological data suggested that a vascular ischemic process was responsible for the cerebral lesions in these two patients. As Vinca alkaloids and not methotrexate have been implicated as a cause of cortical blindness, and as our two patients presented signs of overdose of vindesine (paralytic ileus and IADHS), we suggest that the neurological and radiological abnormalities in our patients may have been due to neurotoxicity of vindesine.

Blindness↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hyperdense CT foci in treated AIDS toxoplasmosis encephalitis: MR and pathologic correlation.

Five AIDS patients with previously diagnosed and treated toxoplasmosis presented with hyperdense precontrast CT approximately 6 months after the CNS infection. An MR study was performed in all cases. The CT hyperdensities were characterized on MR by a high signal intensity on T1 images in four cases. In two of these, pathological correlation confirmed hemorrhage. In the fifth case, MR findings were consistent with calcification, which was verified by pathological examination.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

CSF flow measurement in syringomyelia.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: CSF circulation has been reported to represent a major factor in the pathophysiology of syringomyelia. Our purpose was to determine the CSF flow patterns in spinal cord cysts and in the subararachnoid space in patients with syringomyelia associated with Chiari I malformation and to evaluate the modifications of the flow resulting from surgery. METHODS: Eighteen patients with syringomyelia were examined with a 3D Fourier encoding velocity imaging technique. A prospectively gated 2D axial sequence with velocity encoding in the craniocaudal direction in the cervical region was set at a velocity of +/- 10 cm/s. Velocity measurements were performed in the larger portion of the cysts and, at the same cervical level, in the pericystic subarachnoid spaces. All patients underwent a surgical procedure involving dural opening followed by duroplasty. Pre- and postoperative velocity measurements of all patients were taken, with a mean follow-up of 10.2 months. We compared the velocity measurements with the morphology of the cysts and with the clinical data. Spinal subarachnoid spaces of 19 healthy subjects were also studied using the same technique. RESULTS: A pulsatile flow was observed in syrinx cavities and in the pericystic subarachnoid spaces (PCSS). Preoperative maximum systolic cyst velocities were higher than were diastolic velocities. A systolic velocity peak was well defined in all cases, first in the cyst and then in the PCSS. Higher systolic and diastolic cyst velocities are observed in large cysts and in patients with a poor clinical status. After surgery, a decrease in cyst volume (evaluated on the basis of the extension of the cyst and the compression of the PCSS) was observed in 13 patients. In the postoperative course, we noticed a decrease of systolic and diastolic cyst velocities and a parallel increase of systolic PCSS velocities. Diastolic cyst velocities correlated with the preoperative clinical status of the patients and, after surgery, in patients with a satisfactory foraminal enlargement evaluated on the basis of the visibility of the cisterna magna. CONCLUSION: CSF flow measurement constitutes a direct evaluation for the follow-up of patients with syringomyelic cysts. Diastolic and systolic cyst velocities can assist in the evaluation of the efficacy of surgery.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Clinico-diagnostic criteria of hypochondriac syndromes].

The aim of this study was to examine the vast field of hypochondriac symptoms and to put forward diagnostic criteria following the analysis of recent studies on this topic. The "descriptions" based on DSM III trace a partial and selective picture of hypochondriac disorders which is only applicable to a small group of patients in which "somatic complaints" are emphasised in comparison to other less evident psychological variables. The symptom therefore becomes a sign of a pathology which is not defined according to the same complex of symptoms from which it arose. There is in fact no nosological model of hypochondria: we are only likely to meet a "potential hypochondriac" whose pathological expression is limited to part of the population.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Projective identification, mimesis and the analytical situation. Preliminary observations].

In an attempt to underline the need to refer to an imaginary setting, in which the analytical relationship is acted out, the Authors have considered the possible relations between the concept of projective identification, as defined by Klein and further developed by Bion, and the idea of "Mimesis", which is inevitably involved in every story, and which confronts the imaginary at the very moment in which it is produced. The "fusion" between subject and object, which may occur in a more or less partial manner, is defined as a phenomenal demonstration of the participation of the two poles of the relationship in a "super-individual" experience which embraces them both. The mythical image of the hunter. Anyone is, in our opinion, a paradigmatic clement in this from of "meeting" which takes place within an impersonal and illusionary dimension.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cultural relativity of hysteria as a nosographic entity. Hysteria and antisocial behavior].

In a review of the works of those authors who have dealt with this subject since the 50s, this study aims to consider the influence which certain prejudices and convictions, which are rooted in our culture, may have had on the concept of hysteria, above all with regard to the close correlation which has always been noted between this syndrome and the female sex. While, on the one hand, the analysis of sociocultural factors and of the different roles which have been established for the sexes, may help us to understand some of the peculiarities of this disease, on the other these same observations may induce us to question the existence of hysteria as a differentiated nosographical entity. In this way, for example, in Warner's opinion, a hysterical personality and an anti-social personality become two different phenomenal expressions of a single basic character disorder.

Antisocial Personality Disorder↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Diagnostic and therapeutic considerations on agitated depression understood as a mixed affective state].

Since they were first described, mixed affective states have created problems of differential diagnosis. In clinical practice various cases previously diagnosed as other conditions but identifiable as mixed states within a bipolar disorder have been encountered. In particular there are cases of agitated depression that can pose a serious clinical problem since the agitation may be exacerbated by the use of antidepressant drugs. In contrast it has been found useful to treat the maniacal component of these states, an approach that has obtained remissions and overall improvements in the clinical picture.

Adult↗