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Biomedical subjects

A Shuaib

Publications and source records attributed to A Shuaib.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

Assessment of damage from implantation of microdialysis probes in the rat hippocampus with silver degeneration staining.

We used a sensitive silver degeneration staining method to study the effects of insertion of microdialysis probes in rat dorsal hippocampus and neocortex. Nine animals were sacrificed 24 h, 3 days or 7 days after implantation of dialysis tubing. Although mild neuronal cell death and small petechial hemorrhages were seen in close proximity to the implantation site, the striking finding was the presence of degenerating axons both adjacent to the implantation site and in remote sites such as the corpus callosum and contralateral hippocampus. The observed changes could alter brain function near or remote from the implantation site and should be considered in analysis of dialysis experiments.

Animals↗

Recurrent peripheral facial nerve palsy after dental procedures.

Peripheral facial palsy is an uncommon complication of dental procedures. Most cases begin immediately after dental anesthesia and resolve within 12 hours. No report of recurrent facial palsy with dental manipulations has previously been described. We report a patient with two episodes of peripheral facial palsy, 2 years apart, developing within 24 hours of dental procedures. A third episode of contralateral facial weakness developed 3 years after the second event. This event was not related to dental manipulations. Although the exact mechanism is not known, dental manipulations may rarely result in precipitation of recurrent Bell's palsy.

Adult↗

A comparative trial of three agents in the treatment of acute migraine headache.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: A study was conducted to evaluate the relative efficacy of three non-narcotic agents, chloropromazine, lidocaine, and dihydroergotamine, in the treatment of migraine headache in an emergency department setting. DESIGN: The trial was randomized and single blinded. SETTING: The study was conducted in two university-affiliated EDs. TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: All patients had an isolated diagnosis of common or classic migraine. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were pretreated with 500 mL (IV) normal saline before randomization. Study drugs as administered were dihydroergotamine 1 mg IV repeated after 30 minutes if the initial response was inadequate; lidocaine 50 mg IV at 20-minute intervals to a maximum total dose of 150 mg as required; or chloropromazine 12.5 mg IV repeated at 20-minute intervals to a total maximum dose of 37.5 mg as required. Patients were asked to grade headache severity on a ten-point scale before and one hour after the initiation of therapy. Follow-up by phone was sought the following day. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 76 patients completing the trial, 24 were randomized to receive chloropromazine, 26 to receive dihydroergotamine, and 26 to receive lidocaine. Reduction in mean headache intensity was significantly better among those treated with chloropromazine (P less than .005). Persistent headache relief was experienced by 16 of the chloropromazine-treated patients (88.9%) contacted at 12 to 24 hours follow-up compared with ten of the dihydroergotamine-treated patients (52.6%) and five of the lidocaine-treated group (29.4%). CONCLUSION: The relative effectiveness of these three antimigraine therapies appears to favor chloropromazine in measures of headache relief, incidence of headache rebound, and patient satisfaction with therapy.

Adult↗

Spontaneous midbrain hemorrhage.

Spontaneous (nontraumatic) midbrain hemorrhage (SMH) is an uncommon condition whose diagnosis is greatly assisted by the use of cranial computerized tomography. Of 18 cases described in the English language literature, only two were diagnosed without the aid of CT. We report five cases of SMH in five normotensive patients. Vertical gaze palsies were noted in four patients, headache in four, pupillary dysfunction in four, mild hemiplegia in two, unilateral ataxia in two, and unilateral asterixis in one. The diagnosis of SMH had not been considered before CT scanning in any of these patients. All patients had partial to complete recovery. Cerebral angiography in each case showed no abnormalities in the area of the hemorrhage.

Adolescent↗

Response of non-migrainous headaches to chlorpromazine.

Chlorpromazine, given intravenously, is a useful agent in the treatment of acute migraine headaches. Patients with more serious conditions, however, may also respond to this medication. In this paper we report two patients who were initially diagnosed as having migraine headaches and treated with chlorpromazine. Both experienced temporary pain relief and it was only after repeated presentations to the emergency department that their conditions--a subarachnoid hemorrhage and a subdural hematoma--were accurately diagnosed. Because of this, caution must be exercised before re-treating within a short period of time, a patient with recurrent headache. Strong consideration must be given to an alternate diagnosis and such a diagnosis should be actively sought should there be any suspicion of a non-migrainous cause for headache. It is only by doing so that we may avoid missing more serious and life-threatening conditions such as those with which our patients presented.

Adult↗

Carotid transient ischemic attacks and normal investigations: a follow-up study.

Reports on the long-term prognosis of patients with transient ischemic attacks and normal angiograms have revealed variable results, some suggesting a good prognosis while others report an outcome no different from that of patients with transient ischemic attacks and atherosclerotic vascular narrowing. Normal cerebral angiograms do not exclude disease in the heart or hematologic disorders. The prognosis for patients with transient ischemic attacks, normal angiograms, and normal results of cardiac and hematologic investigations is not known. We report our experience with 43 patients (26 men and 17 women, mean age 55.6 years) with transient ischemic attacks and normal findings on all investigations (including angiography, cranial computed tomography, echocardiography, and Holter monitoring). The patients were followed for a mean of 4.43 years. Six patients had recurrent transient ischemic attacks and six developed angina pectoris. No patient developed a stroke. In the presence of normal cerebral, cardiac, and hematologic findings, the long-term prognosis of patients with transient ischemic attacks is good. However, the development of cardiac disease during follow-up could not be predicted using the available diagnostic methods.

Adult↗

Multiple intra-cranial hemorrhages after carotid endarterectomy.

Intra-cerebral hemorrhage is an unusual and often fatal complication of endarterectomy (CEA). Previous cerebral infarction, intra-operative or post operative hypertension, and the use of anti-coagulants are some of the defined major risk factors. Hemorrhage usually occurs early after CEA, and a second hemorrhage has only once been reported. We wish to report a patient who developed three separate hemorrhages following CEA. This patient had a long history of poorly controlled hypertension. We believe that poorly controlled hypertension, in addition to other reported factors, may be an important separate risk factor for post-CEA hemorrhage.

Carotid Artery Diseases↗

Methanol poisoning: factors associated with neurologic complications.

Hospital records of thirty patients with methanol poisoning were studied. Neurologic manifestations at presentation including coma, seizures and decreased visual acuity were seen in nineteen patients. The mean blood pH at presentation was significantly lower in the patients with these neurologic signs and symptoms than in the eleven patients without them (p less than 0.05). Methanol levels at presentation tended to be higher in patients with neurologic manifestations at presentation and these patients tended to present later after methanol ingestion than those patients without neurologic manifestations. Fifteen patients with methanol poisoning developed serious neurologic sequelae or died. The mean blood pH was significantly lower in this patient group than in those who survived without neurologic sequelae (p less than 0.05). Methanol levels at presentation were not different in the patients who developed neurologic sequelae or died as compared to those who did not. The time from ingestion of methanol to presentation at the hospital was however significantly longer in those patients who developed neurologic sequelae or died (p less than 0.05). Initiation of treatment within eight hours of ingestion of methanol was associated with a better clinical outcome.

Adolescent↗

Migraine and intracerebral hemorrhage.

Stroke is a well described complication of migraine. Recently, attention has been drawn to the development of cerebral hemorrhage in middle-aged patients with common migraine. We report a patient with classic migraine who developed an intracranial hemorrhage 36 h after the onset of a migraine attack and had a good recovery over a period of six days. Including our patient there are now five cases, all females, with this complication of migraine. It is postulated that the condition is fairly common and under reported.

Adult↗

Migraine and anti-phospholipid antibodies.

Anti-phospholipid antibodies (APA), initially described with SLE, have in recent years received much attention because of an associated increased risk of thrombo-embolic disease, recurrent abortion and thrombocytopenia. Although commonly seen with SLE or other collagen vascular diseases, the antibodies frequently occur in the absence of any such disease. Neurologic complications include transient or permanent ischemic episodes, migraine or related phenomena, myelopathy and a Guillain-Barré type syndrome. In this report we describe the presenting features and clinical course of six patients with anti-phospholipid antibodies where migraine was an early and prominent symptom. All six patients, however, were recognized only after a second more serious event had occurred. As this entity becomes more widely recognized and better treatments evolve an earlier diagnosis of patients with migraine as the only manifestation of APA may prevent the development of other serious complications.

Adult↗

Mesencephalic hemorrhage and unilateral pupillary deficit.

An isolated dilated and fixed pupil in the absence of other neurological dysfunction usually suggests ciliary ganglion dysfunction or direct pharmacological blockade of the parasympathetic fibers to the pupil. A unilateral dilated pupil as a manifestation of a mesencephalic hemorrhage has not, to our knowledge, previously been reported. We now describe a 35-year-old woman who had a headache and a dilated and nonreactive right pupil. A cranial computed tomography scan showed a small hemorrhage in the midbrain, and a cerebral angiogram was normal. Mesencephalic hemorrhage should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an isolated dilated pupil.

Adult↗

Migraine and the risks from angiography.

There is some suggestion in the literature that patients with migraine may be at an increased risk for developing complications as a result of cerebral angiography. To assess this risk, we reviewed the charts of 142 patients with migraine. A total of 149 angiograms were performed for acute headache (55), new focal symptoms (40), exertional (including coital) headaches (nine), hemiplegic migraine (three), ophthalmoplegic migraine (five), vertebrobasilar migraine (six), migraine accompaniments (three), and other causes (14). Transient events were seen in six patients and these were transient amnesia (one), hemisensory changes (two), hemiparesis (one), global confusion (one), and angina (one). One patient with a history of severe ischemic heart disease developed a myocardial infarction two hours after angiography. Focal cerebral events occurred in 2.6% of cases. This compares with a rate of complications of 2.8% caused by angiography in a prospective study of 1002 patients from our center. According to our findings, it appears that a history of migraine does not increase the risk of complications caused by angiography. Angiography during episodes of acute headaches would also appear to be a safe procedure. Transient focal neurologic symptoms, however, are not infrequent, especially in cases of classic migraine.

Adolescent↗

Multicore myopathy: not always a benign entity.

Four patients with Multicore Myopathy, a rare morphologically distinct myopathy, are described. Although previously considered to be a non-progressive or only slowly progressive myopathy, progression to significant disability was seen in three of our cases. The association of cardiac disease with Multicore Myopathy has not been previously emphasised. All four patients in this study had a cardiomyopathy, and heart disease was the cause of death in two of the patients. Multicore Myopathy is not always a benign entity. Cardiac involvement, when present, adversely affects prognosis.

Adolescent↗

Transient ischemic attacks and normal cerebral angiograms: a follow-up study.

To determine the outcome of patients with carotid transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and normal cerebral angiograms, we assessed 68 patients (40 men, 28 women) aged 24-72 (mean 53.5) years for recurrent TIAs and strokes and for the development of cardiac disease over 2-6 (mean 4.4) years. All but one patient had a follow-up interview in early 1987; that patient had died of an unrelated cause (lung cancer) 18 months after the presenting TIA. The diagnosis was changed at the follow-up interview in three patients (multiple sclerosis, meningioma, migraine). Among the 64 remaining patients, at admission cranial computed tomography had shown cerebral infarction in 11 of 64, two-dimensional echocardiography had been abnormal in nine of 61, Holter monitoring had been abnormal in eight of 45, and twelve-lead electrocardiography had been abnormal in three of 64. Two patients had abnormalities on both echocardiography and Holter monitoring. At the follow-up interview of the 64 remaining patients, TIAs had recurred in nine and three had developed a completed stroke; cardiac disease (angina in seven, myocardial infarction in four) was noted in 11 patients. Findings from cardiac investigations on admission in the nine patients with recurrent TIAs had been abnormal in six and normal in three; all three patients who developed a stroke had had abnormal cardiac findings. Overall, further neurologic or cardiac events occurred in 12 of 46 patients (26%) with normal and in 10 of 18 patients (55.5%) with abnormal findings on admission (p less than 0.01). In the presence of normal angiograms, extensive cardiac investigations may help predict the outcome of patients with TIAs.

Adult↗

Subarachnoid hemorrhage and normal angiography: should the angiogram be reviewed by a second neuroradiologist?

In recent years there has been a tendency to abandon repeat cerebral angiography in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) if the initial angiogram is normal because prognosis is said to be excellent. Our experience does not support such a conclusion. We report our experiences in 25 patients with SAH, who had a normal initial angiogram. Aneurysms were seen in five of 20 cases when angiography was repeated. On subsequent review of the initial angiograms, the aneurysm was apparent in four of the five cases. When these four initial angiograms were shown to a second observer, unaware of the results of the second study, three of the four aneurysms were correctly identified. We suggest that if, under strong clinical suspicion of SAH, the angiogram is reported as normal the study should be reviewed by a second neuro-radiologist before proceeding to repeat angiography.

Cerebral Angiography↗