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Biomedical subjects

C Blomstrand

Publications and source records attributed to C Blomstrand.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Spinal cord injuries. Clinical, functional, and emotional status.

Ninety-eight patients with traumatic spinal cord injury, at a median age of 33.5 years (range, 16-72 years), with nonremarkable distributions of neurologic characteristics were investigated at a median of 2.3 years (range, 0.1-23 years) after injury. Functioning, mood disturbances, and overall quality of life were recorded with established self-assessment instruments. Physical dysfunction levels were moderate, being proportionate to neurologic impairment. Psychosocial functions, mood states, and quality-of-life perceptions did not differ from those of a control population sample. Psychosocial function and mood disturbances varied greatly during the first 4 years after injury, but patients' later recordings expressed predominantly a balanced emotional state and a rewarding social life. Progress in this direction consisted of clearly lessened physical dysfunction 1 year after injury and better psychosocial function and well-being after 2 years, whereas patterns of social activities and contacts became gradually less inhibited during a 4-year period after injury. Analysis of complications in patients' histories that affected function and mood showed severe pain to be the only complication that related to lower quality-of-life scores. Urinary incontinence and infection and autonomous dysreflexia related to inhibited self-care performance; spasticity related to impaired ambulation and feeding skills. Gainful employment was the only demographic factor linked to high quality-of-life scores.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1990

[Cerebrospinal fluid cytology--a valuable diagnostic method in various neurologic problems].

Cytological examination of cerebrospinal fluid can provide vital diagnostic information, particularly in inflammatory and neoplastic disorders of the nervous system. Not only can the cause of a pleocytosis be established but cytological abnormalities can also be detected in cases where the cell count is normal. Monoclonal antibodies can be used for the characterisation of leukaemic cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1990

Sexual ability, activity, attitudes and satisfaction as part of adjustment in spinal cord-injured subjects.

Changes in different aspects of sexuality were investigated and related to overall quality of life and physical, psychological and social adjustment in 73 SCI subjects, who were sexually active both before and after injury. Items on sexual interest and satisfaction were treated as one composite variable, the SIS scale, measuring sexual adjustment after injury. Despite severe genital dysfunction, more than half of the subjects (57%) rated their sexual relations after injury as satisfying or at least rather satisfying. The majority continued having intercourse, although many of them more seldom than before, and about half experienced orgasm. Sexual adjustment after injury was closely and positively correlated to frequency of intercourse, willingness to experiment with alternative sexual expressions and young age at injury. Physical and social independence and a high mood level were further positive determinants of sexual adaptation after injury, whereas the neurological level and completeness of injury showed no significant correlation with sexuality. It is suggested that sexual information and counselling should be integrated in the total care of the SCI patient to reduce the negative effects on sexuality, caused by the injury.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The quality of life of three functional spinal cord injury subgroups in a Swedish community.

Vast community provisions in Sweden are intended to offer spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects equal opportunities and the same living standards as the able-bodied. This study on all 56 subjects representing 3 distinct functional subgroups, out of a consecutive series treated at a Spinal Unit, explored the skills used in a wide range of community living activities and the details of these subjects' quality of life (QL). C6-tetraplegics with complete lesions (n = 15), wheelchair-bound paraplegics (n = 23) and ambulant paraplegics (n = 18) varied in physical independence in proportion to their disabilities but disturbances of mood states and QL perception did not differ between groups or from a control population sample. Eighty per cent of the subjects were engaged in gainful employment or education. Work/education, home management and mobility in the neighbourhood were clearly restricted by more severe disability but social and recreational activities were not. Degree of social activity and ability to drive a car were closely associated with levels of mental well-being and of perceived QL. Access to transport and home-help services, appropriate housing and technical aids included few unmet subjective needs, possibly explaining why these environmental factors did not inhibit the activity levels of the study population. Extensive society support and stimulation can satisfy important needs and expectations of well-functioning SCI subjects.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1990

Health status in patients with tension headache treated with acupuncture or physiotherapy.

Sixty-two female patients with chronic tension headache were randomly divided into two treatment groups--acupuncture and physiotherapy. Their overall function (Sickness Impact Profile), and mental well-being (Mood Adjective Check List) and the intensity and frequency of headache were assessed before and after treatment. Before treatment the patients showed significantly more dysfunction and less positive mental well-being than a general population sample. Both treatment groups improved in overall function, the physiotherapy group somewhat more. The mental well-being increased only in the physiotherapy group. The intensity and frequency of headache was significantly reduced in both the physiotherapy group and the acupuncture group. The intensity of headache was significantly more improved in the physiotherapy group. The improvement of headache intensity persisted unchanged 7-12 months after treatment.

Acupuncture Analgesia↗
PubMed1990

Cerebrospinal fluid proteins in men with chronic encephalopathy after exposure to organic solvents.

Cerebrospinal fluid was examined for 23 patients with chronic toxic encephalopathy after heavy exposure to organic solvents and 23 healthy age-matched referents. No differences were found between the patients and referents with respect to the levels of albumin, immunoglobulin, prealbumin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, beta-2-microglobulin, haptoglobin, or the astroglial cell proteins S100 and glial fibrillary acidic protein in the cerebrospinal fluid. The albumin ratio was normal for both the patients and the referents. The patient group had had heavy exposure to organic solvents, but its members had not been exposed for at least one year before the study. It was concluded that, if exposure to organic solvents affects proteins in cerebrospinal fluid, such effects are probably reversible.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Computed tomography of the brain in the diagnosis of and prognosis in normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Thirty-eight patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus were examined by CT before and after a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt operation. Evans ratio, periventricular hypodensity and width of hemispheric sulci, sylvian fissures, cella media, temporal horns and third and fourth ventricle were examined. Twenty-eight patients improved after the operation while 10 were unchanged (non responders). Those patients who improved had more often enlarged third ventricle, enlarged temporal horns and normal sylvian fissures than those who did not improve. No single CT parameter or combination of CT parameters alone could identify responders and non-responders. The ventriculo-peritoneal shunt operation reduced ventricular size (Evans ratio, cella media width), abolished periventricular hypodensity and reduced width of the temporal horns and third ventricle in both responders and non-responders. Reduction of the width of the third ventricle correlated to clinical improvement.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Liquid chromatographic separation of cerebrospinal fluid amino acids after precolumn fluorescence derivatization.

Sampling and HPLC analysis procedures for CSF amino acid determination were evaluated. It is recommended to analyse native CSF. The sample should be taken from the first 12 ml obtained by lumbar puncture. Amino acid concentrations are stable for short periods over a wide range of temperature however, storage at -70 degrees to -80 degrees C is recommended. With the precolumn derivatization and a 30 cm reverse-phase column, the separation and reproducibility are reliable for analyses in the daily hospital routine.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Increasing intrathecal lymphocytosis and immunoglobulin G production in neurologically asymptomatic HIV-1 infection.

Cerebrospinal fluid from 34 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) seropositive patients, only four of whom had HIV-related neurological symptoms, was examined by cytology, protein quantification, isoelectric focusing and specific serological tests. CSF lymphocytosis and evidence of intrathecal IgG production, found in 21 and 20 respectively of the 34 patients, correlated significantly with the duration of the infection. Increasing IgG index was found in two patients with repeated CSF examinations during greater than 7 years. Intrathecal HIV antibodies were detected on Western blot in 32/34 patients. HIV antigen test positive in 5/34 sera was negative in all 34 CSF samples. Intrathecal B cell activation seems to increase during the early HIV infection.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Outcome of shunt operation on urinary incontinence in normal pressure hydrocephalus predicted by lumbar puncture.

Bladder function in four patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus, one with dementia of Alzheimer type and five patients with multi-infarct dementia was studied by history and urodynamic tests (cystometry and Bor's ice water test). The bladder hyperactivity could be temporarily improved by a lumbar puncture and removal of 50 ml CSF and later abolished by a shunt operation in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus while no changes occurred in the other patients. Urodynamic testing in connection with a lumbar puncture may be a reliable way to predict the outcome of a shunt operation in cases of normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Protein metabolism and electrophoretic profiles in astroglial primary cultures from different regions of newborn rat brain.

Primary astroglial cultures (14 days of age) from cerebral cortex, striatum, and hippocampus of newborn rat brain contained similar amounts of soluble proteins. Uptake and incorporation of [3H]valine into soluble protein measured after 30 and 60 min of incubation, respectively, was on a similar level in the various cultures. [3H]valine labeling of protein bands from the cell soluble fractions and incubation media of hemisphere cultures, and which were separated by isoelectric focusing (IEF) or sodium-dodecyl-sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), indicated that proteins are released to the extracellular medium after being synthesized within cultivated cells. Acidic and high molecular weight proteins were more heavily labelled in the incubation media than in the cell soluble fractions. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (IEF X SDS-PAGE) of soluble proteins from the different cultures showed similar patterns, which were quite different from the serum-free extracellular protein patterns. Both fractions were different from the pattern obtained from fetal calf-serum. In striatum and hippocampus culture media a "spot" was seen with Ip 6.0-6.8 and m.w. 105,000, and in the media from cerebellar cultures another "spot" was observed with Ip 5.2-5.6 and m.w. 55,000. The results show that the different cultures are similar in their protein synthetic capacity and protein composition. The specific differences observed in proteins obtained from the serum-free incubation media might indicate specific properties among astroglial cells from various brain regions.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Normal pressure hydrocephalus. Predictive value of the cerebrospinal fluid tap-test.

Twenty-seven patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus were operated upon by a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. Selection for shunt surgery was based on typical symptoms (gait disturbancy, mental deterioration and urgency incontinence) and characteristic changes at cranial computed tomography and/or radionuclide cisternography. Prior to operation a cerebrospinal fluid tap-test (CSF-TT) was performed with measurements of psychometric functions and gait pattern before and after a lumbar puncture of 50 cc CSF. Nineteen patients improved and 5 were unchanged after shunt operation. Three patients could not be evaluated. Improvement in the psychometric functions and gait pattern after lumbar puncture correlated to improvement after the shunt operation (r = 0.64, p less than 0.01: r = 0.96, p less than 0.001, respectively). Improvement in 2 or more of the 4 tests used (3 psychometric and 1 gait test) at CSF-TT implied in all cases successful result of the shunt operation. It was concluded that CSF-TT could predict which NPH patient will improve by a shunt operation, and albeit to envisage the degree of improvement.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Dementia--and adenylate kinase activity in cerebrospinal fluid.

Adenylate kinase (AK) was determined in a lumbo-cisternal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) gradient and in CSF from patients with mental deterioration. AK activity was unchanged in the gradient and different from albumin and albumin ratio (alb CSF/albumin serum), a blood-brain barrier marker in the same gradient. No differences between normal pressure hydrocephalus, multiinfarct dementia and dementia of the Alzheimer type could be found with regard to adenylate kinase activity in CSF.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗
PubMed1985

Dementia of different etiologies: vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in CSF.

Patients with normal-pressure hydrocephalus, multi-infarct dementia, and recent cerebral infarction had significantly lower vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) levels than age-matched controls (11 +/- 3 pmol/l, 17 +/- 4 pmol/l, 21 +/- 4 pmol/l, and 33 +/- 4 pmol/l, respectively). Three months after a shunt operation, the VIP levels had increased significantly in patients with hydrocephalus (54 +/- 13 pmol/l). VIP concentration in patients with senile dementia did not differ from that of controls.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Episodic astigmatism heralding generalized myopathy: report of a case managed with a new type of soft contact lens.

A 29-year-old woman presented with marked variations in refraction. A few minutes of physical exertion or reading at a close distance induced up to 2D of myopia and 2D of myopic astigmatism, which regressed upon resting with closed eyes. Cycloplegic agents did not affect the refractive changes, which were shown to be due to variations in corneal curvatures. The eyes were otherwise clinically normal. A few months later the patient developed signs of a progressive, generalized myopathy of unknown origin. The muscular disease was resistant to treatment. The refractive changes were effectively controlled by means of a new type of soft contact lens, with a semi-rigid center.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Isoelectric focusing followed by silver staining. A suitable method for routine investigation of cerebrospinal fluid proteins.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples from 361 consecutive patients were investigated. The protein pattern of each sample was examined by isoelectric focusing (IEF) of unconcentrated CSF followed by silver staining and by agar gel electrophoresis of concentrated CSF stained with amido black. 347 paired samples were compared. The results were the same in 83% of the samples. Discordant results were found in 10% of the samples. and in 7% additional information was achieved by one of the methods. IEF was superior to agar gel electrophoresis for the identification of oligoclonal immune reactions of the central nervous system. Tau globulin increase was seen in a few CSF samples, more often with IEF and then associated with other changes of the pattern. IEF of unconcentrated CSF followed by silver staining only requires 20 microliters CSF, while 3-4 ml CSF is needed for the agar gel electrophoretic method. It was concluded that IEF has several advantages compared to agar gel electrophoresis and is suitable as a routine method in clinical laboratories.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Hypotension induced by prostacyclin treatment during cardiopulmonary bypass does not increase the risk of cerebral complications.

High-dose prostacyclin treatment during cardiopulmonary bypass reduces platelet activation and possibly postoperative blood loss. A side-effect is arterial hypotension. We studied the incidence of cerebral complications in 79 patients requiring coronary bypass. Only patients without known cerebrovascular disease were studied. Thirty-nine patients received prostacyclin 50 ng/kg/min during cardiopulmonary bypass and 40 patients served as controls. Mean arterial blood pressure in the group given prostacyclin was below 30 mm Hg during the first 30 minutes of bypass but remained above 60 mm Hg in the control group. Postoperative neurological examination revealed transient cerebral dysfunction in six control patients and two prostacyclin-treated patients. Investigation of cerebrospinal fluid showed signs of blood-brain barrier damage in 12 control and seven prostacyclin-treated patients. Cytologic changes in cerebrospinal fluid consistent with brain tissue damage occurred in two control patients but in no patient given prostacyclin. Myelin basic protein and adenylate kinase in cerebrospinal fluid were assayed as being markers of brain damage. Myelin basic protein was within the normal range in all patients. Adenylate kinase was moderately increased (greater than 0.035 U/L) in five of 15 control patients and six of 13 prostacyclin-treated patients. We conclude that treatment with prostacyclin 50 ng/kg/min during cardiopulmonary bypass does not increase the risk of postoperative cerebral damage.

Adenylate Kinase↗