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Biomedical subjects

D Claus

Publications and source records attributed to D Claus.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Neuropsychologic findings in Friedreich's ataxia.

Fifteen patients with Friedreich's ataxia underwent a battery of neuropsychologic tests. All subjects had normal visual acuity. There was no indication that Friedreich's ataxia is a dementing disease. The patients showed an impairment in tests of spatial construction and in one test of conceptual perception. Cerebellar structures may be involved in certain spatial tasks, and a lack of training of action in space, as a result of the disease, may also account for the deficits. The motor and somatosensory impairment could be ruled out as a major cause.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Brachial neuritis in salmonellosis.

A case of bilateral brachial plexus neuritis associated with a salmonella infection is reported. The three types of nerve involvement in salmonellosis, mononeuritis, brachial plexus neuritis and polyradiculoneuritis are described. Prognosis and pathogenesis are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

The influence of vitamin B6 deficiency on somatosensory stimulus conduction in the rat.

Whilst 22 male Wistar rats were fed on a pyridoxine-deficient diet for 26 weeks, 22 controls received a normal diet. The vitamin B6 deficient animals lost no weight but they developed symptoms of rat pellagra. The sensory nerve conduction velocity, the compound radicular, spinal and brain stem responses and the SEP were derived following tail and hind paw stimulation. The examination was repeated at 6 week intervals. A disturbed central stimulus conduction was indicated by the delayed SEP and intracerebral conduction times. An impairment of neurotransmitter metabolism may be of importance in this case. Considering related data the results implicate the importance of vitamin B6 substitution in the case of CNS disturbances due to malnutrition, e.g., chronic alcoholism. The nerve conduction velocity decreases subsequently. A disturbance of myelin function is indicated in adult rats under conditions of pyridoxine deficiency.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1984

Diverticulum formation after circular myotomy for esophageal atresia.

Out of our last 70 cases of esophageal atresia, a circular myotomy of the upper pouch (Livaditis technique) was required in six patients to achieve an end-to-end anastomosis: all had a lower tracheoesophageal fistula. They were operated on between 15 and 96 hours after birth, without any preoperative attempt of elongation of the upper pouch. Follow-up ranged from 14 to 77 months. Three patients had an uneventful postoperative course and late outcome, despite a moderate ballooning at the myotomy site in one. Three babies developed a mild stricture which responded easily to a few dilatations. Asymptomatic ballooning at the myotomy site was observed in one baby; the other two developed a diverticulum responsible for acute respiratory distress in one case and severe dysphagia in the other. both required esophageal replacement. These observations call attention to the fact that patients treated by myotomy should be followed very carefully early and late, especially if an anastomotic stricture develops or in case of associated tracheomalacia.

Deglutition Disorders↗
PubMed1983

The wandering spleen.

The article presents two cases of wandering spleen in the pediatric age group. Both patients were admitted for abdominal pain. In one, the onset was sudden and, on physical examination, a mass was felt in the left hypochondrium. In the other, it was the second episode and a firm mid-abdominal mass was found. The wandering spleen is a specific clinical syndrome which should be taken into account when an abdominal tumor is found. Ultrasonography and isotopic scan are very useful diagnostic tools The wandering spleen is caused by the absence of the splenorenal ligament which allows increased mobility of the splenic hilum. Both children underwent a splenectomy and made an uneventful recovery.

Abdominal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1983

Cerebral glutamate, neuroleptic drugs and schizophrenia: increase of cerebrospinal fluid glutamate levels and decrease of striate body glutamate levels following sulpiride treatment in rats.

Chronic (12 days) administration of sulpiride (50 mg/kg, i.p.) in rats resulted in a significant (12%) increase in the glutamate contents of cerebrospinal fluid. Sulpiride had no effect on the GABA content of the brain areas investigated (frontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus and substantia nigra). Sulpiride is a neuroleptic drug which is believed to block especially the non-adenylate cyclase dopaminergic receptors which are supposed to be inhibitory axoaxonic receptors on glutamatergic corticostriatal terminals. The results are compatible with the hypothesis that glutamatergic hypofunction might be the primary defect in schizophrenia rather than hyperactivity of the dopamine synapses.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

[Peripheral and central neural conduction in the rat].

The orthodromic sensory nerve conduction velocity was measured on the tail nerve of 35 male and 14 female Wistar rats. The spinal somatosensory evoked potential also was determined for the excitation of the tail and lower limb over the 5th and 1st lumbar vertebrae. The cervical response and cortical somatosensory evoked potential were determined for the stimuli of the hind and fore paw. Normal values are compared with the latencies evaluated by upper limb stimulus. Differences between both sexes are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

[Differential diagnosis of infratentorial atrophies by computed tomography (author's transl)].

Computed tomographical findings are documented for 140 patients with different cerebellar atrophic or heredodegenerative processes. There are idiopathic cerebellar atrophies, so called alcoholic and paraneoplastic cerebellar atrophies, cerebellar atrophies associated with nutritional deficiency diseases or intake of diphenylhydantoin. Further, there are patients suffering from Friedreich's ataxia. Nonne-Marie's spastic ataxia, olivo-ponto-cerebellar atrophy and various other diseases. With the aid of CT individual patterns of atrophy can be recognized. The method therefore, helps to distinguish the above mentioned diseases from each other and also distinguishes them from inflammatory, cerebrovascular or neoplastic processes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

[Glutamate and GABA concentration in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of rats treated with phosphatidylcholine].

Phosphatidylcholine increases CNS concentrations of acetylcholine. In rats we investigated whether or not phosphatidylcholine also influences the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA. In 17 rats 1.5 gram/kg Lethicon perorally was administered daily for 2 weeks, 15 rats served as controls. In tissue from frontal cortex, striatum, substantia nigra, cerebellar cortex no significant differences between treated and untreated animals were found in glutamate or GABA concentrations. A central nervous interaction between the cholinergic system and the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA, therefore, could not be demonstrated after 2 weeks of phosphatidylcholine intake.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

[Effect of ethanol on the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA].

The effect of chronic ethanol administration, 5 g/kg per day for 2 or 4 weeks, on the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA was investigated in rats. An increase in GABA was found in the striatum, hippocampus, and substantia nigra, 8 or 12 h after the last ingestion of ethanol, this being masked by injection of barbiturate. In addition an increase of glutamate has been found in the examined brain areas. This is consistent with the known effect of ethanol on brain Dopa metabolism and release. Finally, the relevance of the results for the pathogenesis of withdrawal seizures and delirious states is discussed.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1982

Increased serum glutamate in depressed patients.

Glutamate concentration was determined in serum from endogenous and neurotic depressive patients, in persons with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, and in normal subjects. The mean serum glutamate level in the endogenous and neurotic depressive patients was found to be significantly higher than in any of the other groups. No other statistically significant differences were found. Statistical analysis revealed that the elevated serum glutamate concentration in the endogenous and neurotic depressive patients was probably caused by medication. These results are discussed in view of the effect of antidepressants upon the serum glutamate in the affective disorders.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Effects of amitriptyline on serum glutamate and free tryptophan in rats.

In rats, chronic amitriptyline (14 days, 10 mg/kg, IP) administration resulted in a significant increase in the serum glutamate concentration and concomitant increase in the serum free tryptophan. In contrast, amitriptyline had no effect on the total serum tryptophan or CSF glutamate level. The data confirmed that antidepressant drugs may induce an increase of the serum glutamate concentration in depressive patients.

Amitriptyline↗
PubMed1982

Evaluation of infratentorial atrophy by computed tomography.

Eight parameters of cranial computed tomograms were examined from 121 controls, 33 patients suffering from paleocerebellar atrophy and 53 with widespread cerebellar atrophy. With the aid of step-by-step linear discriminant analysis the most important parameters were found and their normal and limiting values were calculated. With the help of correlation analysis the correlation between normal values and the age of the controls was investigated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

[Tiapride therapy of centrally produced dyskinesia. Examination of the serum levels of protein, LH and FSH (author's transl)].

The effect of N-(2-diethylaminoethyl)-2-methoxy-5-(methylsulfonyl)-benzamide hydrochloride (tiapride, Tiapridex), a dopamine antagonist, on the serum levels of prolactin, luteinising hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) was studied on 20 healthy individuals and 10 patients with dyskinesia resulting from extrapyramidal disorders. Daily doses of 300 mg in healthy subjects and 300-800 mg in patients with dyskinesia resulted from CNS disorders, were found to increase serum prolactin levels without causing amenorrhoea or galactorrhoea. The drug seemed to have no effect on LH and FSH concentrations in the serum.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Association of bilateral renal agenesis and Di George syndrome in an infant of a diabetic mother.

We found at postmortem examination the association of bilateral renal agenesis and of apparently complete Di George syndrome in an infant whose mother was diabetic. Vertebral abnormalities and hallux duplication were present as well. There is a correlation between maternal diabetes and the bilateral renal agenesis-caudal dysplasia complex on one hand, and maternal diabetes and cardiac malformations on the other hand. Moreover, it has been suggested that the absence of thymus and parathyroids in Di George syndrome is causally linked to the cardiac malformation. Therefore we suggest that the association in our case is not coincidental; both sets of malformations may be due to the maternal diabetes.

DiGeorge Syndrome↗
PubMed1982

Visually evoked potentials in Friedreich's ataxia.

Visual evoked potentials to pattern-reversal stimulation have been recorded in 45 patients with Friedreich's ataxia. In six patients, no response could be obtained because of optic atrophy; altogether, pathological results were found in 25 patients (55%). Normal latencies were recorded in 20 patients (45%). No statistically significant connection could be drawn between the result of the VEP testing and visual acuity, age, or onset and duration of sickness, but there was a strikingly familiar accumulation of results. There is a good conformity between our results and the incidence of optic atrophy in later stages of the disease as shown by pathological-anatomical and epidemiological studies. We have demonstrated that optic nerve lesions in Friedreich's ataxia are not as rare as is frequently assumed and that the VEP is a valuable tool for detecting them. On the other hand, unfortunately, the VEP is of no help in the differential diagnosis of Friedreich's ataxia versus multiple sclerosis.

Adult↗