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Biomedical subjects

E Lugaresi

Publications and source records attributed to E Lugaresi.

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

Epilepsy presenting as memory disturbances.

Six patients presented with severe adult-onset memory deficit that was subsequently diagnosed as complex partial epilepsy. In three cases acute amnestic episodes also occurred. The seizures were characterized by short losses of contact and oral automatisms. Interictal EEG showed temporal abnormalities of varying degrees. Formal neuropsychological assessment revealed dissociation between the subjective complaint and the test performances that showed a selective impairment in a few long-term verbal memory tests. These patients present a characteristic clinical picture of memory disturbance as the prominent feature of partial seizures.

Adult↗

Nocturnal paroxysmal dystonia with short-lasting attacks: three cases with evidence for an epileptic frontal lobe origin of seizures.

The epileptic or nonepileptic origin of nocturnal paroxysmal dystonia (NPD) has been debated. We studied three patients with frequent attacks during non-REM sleep. During prolonged video-EEG monitoring, two patients had a convulsive seizure after a typical NPD episode and on these occasions EEG showed epileptiform discharge. In the three patients, attacks occurred repeatedly with different intensity, representing "fragments" of the same seizure. These fragments of the attack could occur periodically every 20-40 s. We postulate that short NPD attacks are actually epileptic seizures originating from the frontal lobes. The rhythmicity of the episodes may be due to rhythmic oscillation of cortical function during non-REM sleep.

Adult↗

Partial motor epilepsy with "negative myoclonus".

Three children had both nocturnal unilateral motor seizures and daytime ipsilateral "negative myoclonus" which occurred so frequently that it resembled asterixis. Neurophysiologic studies demonstrated lateralized spike discharges that were time-locked to postural lapse in the contralateral outstretched arm. The clinical course was characterized by good seizure control with benzodiazepines.

Adolescent↗

Arylsulfatase A pseudodeficiency and Lafora bodies in a patient with progressive myoclonic epilepsy.

Since age 12 years, a 25-year-old woman had a syndrome with myoclonic epilepsy, cerebellar signs, and spontaneous myoclonus. Skin biopsy showed typical Lafora bodies (LB), but she lacked a progressive course and mental impairment, hallmarks of Lafora disease. Lysosomal enzyme assays showed low level arylsulfatase A (ASA) activity. DNA study disclosed a homozygous ASA Pd genotype. Both parents carried one Pd allele. The still-unknown relationship between the pathologic level of ASA activity and myoclonic epilepsies suggests introduction of ASA assays in patients with PME.

Adult↗

Occipital lobe epilepsy: a chronic condition related to transient occipital lobe involvement in eclampsia.

Eleven hours and 6 days, respectively, after childbirth 2 women exhibited hypertension and paroxysmal visual disturbances followed by tonic-clonic seizures and no other preeclamptic signs. Both developed partial epilepsy with occipital lobe seizures with no other neurologic defects. Neuroimaging showed no lesion during either the acute episode or 3-5 year follow-up. Selective vulnerability of the occipital lobes during eclamptic hypertensive encephalopathy was the probable pathophysiologic mechanism. Aggressive antihypertensive treatment during the acute phase may have exacerbated the risk of permanent cerebral damage.

Adult↗

Malignant migraine: the syndrome of prolonged classical migraine, epilepsia partialis continua, and repeated strokes; a clinically characteristic disorder probably due to mitochondrial encephalopathy.

We present ten patients with classical or common migraine of increasing severity accompanied by seizures of multiple patterns and increasing severity leading to episodes of epilepsia partialis continua. Long lasting deficits associated with hypodense lesions on CT and abnormal signals on MRI, then developed. Cortical blindness, cortical deafness and dementia were common. Five of the patients died in 1-10 years. Some of these patients had markers of mitochondrial disease (ragged red fibers and serum lactate elevation) and others with the same clinical picture did not. This group of patients indicates that mitochondrial encephalopathy may exist without evidence of myopathy, that the clinical syndrome is characteristic and that it should suggest the diagnosis even in the absence of muscular abnormalities.

Adolescent↗

Impairment of memory and consciousness in migraine: clinical and EEG study.

We report the clinical and EEG study of three migraine patients who presented with peculiar clinical phenomena related to migraine attack. The first case is a transient global amnesia that followed a classic migraine status. The second is a confusional state that complicated a classic migraine attack. The third is a complex attack with combined features of migraine and epilepsy.

Adolescent↗

Cheyne-Stokes breathing and systemic arterial pressure periodic pattern during sleep in central alveolar hypoventilation.

This report refers to a 51 year old man with the clinical features of central alveolar hypoventilation (CAH). Polysomnographic recordings showed periodic breathing and central apnoeas associated with abnormal oscillations of systemic arterial pressure and heart rate during all sleep stages. Oxygen administration during sleep reduced hypoxia, while the periodic breathing and arterial pressure oscillations persisted. The authors suggest that an impairment of the brain structures that play a role in homeostatic adjustment of autonomic functions in connection with the sleep-wake cycle, is responsible for the unusual sleep-related disturbances shown by this patient.

Blood Gas Analysis↗