Biomedical subjects

A Ortenzi

Publications and source records attributed to A Ortenzi.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

[Epileptic patients: work and entailing risks (author's transl)].

We made a survey of 450 epileptic patients to find out how their disability affected their jobs and what risks were involved. 60% of the patients questioned had jobs. Those who did not work had frequent attacks and neurological and/or psychiatric handicaps. About 50% of the working epileptic patients were self-employed against a figure of 35% for the self-employed population in our region. In 6.6% of the cases, accidents had occurred at work because of attacks. In half of these cases the accident was not serious and in the other of no account. There is little difference between the Italian population in general and the epileptic when we consider the risks involved at work. This may be attributed to the prudence and common sense the patients show in their choice of work (when this is possible) and in the way they perform their work. Italian law on civil disability limits the work for which epileptics may be employed. For this reason they very often hide their illness from their employer and co-workers.

Accidents, Occupational↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The problem of private insurance for patients with epilepsy (author's transl)].

324 epileptics were questioned about their approach to private insurance. Only 9,26% of them were covered by a life or accident insurance policy: 3,70% had life insurance, 3,70% accident insurance and 1,86% both. None of the patients had declared his disability to the insurance company. In 6,17% of the 324 epileptic cases an insurance policy had been taken out by their parents. In comparison about 35% of the Italian population in general are insured. A questionnaire was sent to 20 insurance companies; only 5 of them replied, saying that as far as accidents were concerned, they considered epileptics uninsurable. As for life insurance, policies can be contracted at increased premiums, according to the individual case (including the severity of the illness). Physicians must give epileptics fuller information about their insurance plans because, if their illness is detected after an accident, they will find themselves not covered by insurance. Government intervention is called for with the setting-up of special funds for this purpose.

Cost Control↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The driving license and epilepsy (author's transl)].

Italy is one of the few countries in Europe with no legislation specifically concerning driving licenses and epilepsy. We made a survey of 321 epileptics all over 18 years of age; 80,4% of them had epilepsy (temporal lobe). 47,7% of the 321 had a driving license, 2,8% had their license withdrawn because of epilepsy. The frequency of attacks among those with licenses was as follows: 52,9% rarely had attacks (1 every 2 years or even less often), 17,7% had attacks yearly and 29,4% had frequent attacks (1 a month, 1 a week or even daily). About 2% of the patients examined had had accidents because of attacks; none of the accidents were very serious. In spite of the lack of legislation, a high number of patients has driving license. However our investigations have shown that they were careful in their driving and scrupulous about treatment and medical check-ups. The main problem is that epileptics with a driving license may encounter serious difficulties with insurance companies if they have a car accident. It is to be hoped that in Italy appropriate measures are taken parallel to those of other European Countries.

Accidents, Traffic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Institutionalized epileptic patients in the "Marche" region (preliminary data) (author's transl)].

The purpose of this survey was to gather information about long stay epileptic patients in 16 institutions of the "Marche" region. The 203 institutionalized subjects were examined and the information fed into computer. All the patients, in addition to epilepsy, had psychiatric and or neurological handicaps, which were often more disabling than their epilepsy (with difficult social adjustment in most cases). The socio-economic level of the families was usually rather low. Ths survey showed satisfactory as well as unsatisfactory aspects of rehabilitation facilities, equipment, medical and para-medical staff, in these institutions. The deficiencies were mostly caused by the lack of coordination and programming at regional level. Each institution, in effect, acted independently.

Epilepsy↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Genetic, polyphysiographic, CT and therapeutic aspects (author's transl)].

Genetic, clinical, polyphysiographic and therapeutical aspects were investigated in a 37 year old patient suffering from: sporadic and localized segmentary myoclonia (present during rest and increasing slightly during movement), cerebellar syndrome, marked hypoacusia, hyper-reflexia of the lower limbs, spike and polyspike EEG discharges and massive myoclonia during photostimulation. A dominant autosomic inheritance of this syndrome was suggested by the occurrence of a more serious and rapid, yet similar, illness in the mother and by EEG alterations in an 8 year old son. The Authors suggest that, from the clinical point of view, they are dealing with an atypical Ramsay-Hunt syndrome (MCD) with signs of Pierre-Marie Heredoataxia. This supports the possibility, however rare, of intermediate forms between MCD and Heredoataxia. The patient underwent polyphysiographic investigations under the following conditions: i) without therapy; ii) with diphenylhydantoin; iii) with phenobarbital; iv) with sodium dipropyl-acetate; v) with clonazepam. The above investigations confirmed the previously described alterations, during wakefulness or sleep, observed in cases of Unverricht-Lundborg syndrome (PME) and Ramsay-Hunt syndrome (MCD). Clonazepam was found to be the most effective drug in attenuating myoclonia, in reducing the EEG spike activity and in reorganizing the phases and cycles of sleep.

Adult↗