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Biomedical subjects

G Testa

Publications and source records attributed to G Testa.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Temporal post-traumatic epilepsy: corticographic and ultrastructural study of a case].

A case of post-traumatic temporal epilepsy, submitted to a temporal lobectomy, is reported. During surgery, electrocorticography was carried out in order to differentiate epileptic areas from normal tissue. The ultrastructural study of nervous tissue removed from both normal and epileptogenic areas showed diffuse and aspecific process of neuronal alterations without a correlation to the electrographic epileptic areas. The importance of trauma in the evolution of these alterations is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Usefulness of ambulatory EEG in detecting critical and intercritical events in patients with epilepsy or with suspected epilepsy].

Ambulatory EEGs (EEGAs) were recorded in 251 patients. In 91 of these patients there was a suspicion of having epileptic seizures, in 117 a diagnosis of epilepsy was already established, in 43 the withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs was envisaged being apparently free from seizures for years. The EEGA showed epileptogenic abnormalities in 31% of patients of the first group. This percentage was not far from the one obtained with standard EEG (EEGS) recordings. In the second group, a divergence was found, as for the classification of seizures, between the ictal events actually recorded on the EEGA and the definition of seizures based on clinical information. Furthermore ictal events recorded by the EEGA were less frequent than one would have anticipated according to the seizure frequency asserted by the patients. In the third group the EEGA disclosed the persistence of epileptic seizures, mostly represented by diffuse spike and wave discharges, in about 30% of the patients. Finally, comparison of the results obtained by the EEGA with those obtained by the EEGS in all patients suggested that the two recording techniques are complementary.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Automatic recognition of spike-wave discharges in dynamic EEG].

A computerized system for automatic recognition of spike and wave discharges (SWDs), recorded by ambulatory EEG, is described. Four parameters were sequentially considered for detecting SWDs: amplitude, frequency, rhythmicity and second derivative of the EEG epochs to be evaluated. With this system the computer was able to recognize in 20 patients 95% +/- 4.7 of SWDs visually detected, while the percentage of the SWDs as compared with the total number of "discharges" found by the computer was 82.4% +/- 15.5.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Convulsive episodes caused by a suspension of lorazepam].

Seven cases of convulsive seizure occurring after abrupt withdrawal of Lorazepam in non epileptic patients are reported. Five ot of them had an important cerebral damage occurred in perinatal period. All patients, before withdrawal, had been taking Lorazepam, 5-15 mg/day, for at least six months. It is stressed that in similar cases there is no need to start an anticonvulsive therapy because usually there is not a spontaneous recurrence of convulsive seizures. It is suggested that withdrawal of long term treatments with high doses of benzodiazepines be accomplished carefully and very slowly especially in patients with a previous cerebral damage.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Use of substances modifying serotonin metabolism in the treatment of narco-cataplexy (considerations on 5 cases)].

The AA., after a critical analysis of the new proposed treatments for the narco-cataplexy, report their experience about the therapeutic possibilities of this syndrome with particular manipulations of cerebral serotonin (5-HT). In 5 patients they tried to act on the two sides of the sleeping-waking cycle by using a diurnal administration of Methysergide (5-HT inhibitor) and an evening loading of L-Tryptophan combined with Benserazide (dopa-decarboxilase inhibitor). The immediate and long term results on the nercoleptic as well as cataplectic symptoms can be considered good. Conversely treatments with Clomipramine alone exerted poor beneficial effects in these patients. The AA. discuss the physiopathogenetic mechanisms which are thought to be involved in this disease.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Some new cases of congenital human African trypanosomiasis (T. gambiense) (author's transl)].

The authors report three cases of congenital transmission of T. gambiense. In two cases, the parasite has been found in the blood of the umbilical cord. In the third case, it has been found twenty hours after birth in the peripherical blood of a new born child whose mother was affected by trypanosomiasis. They report also two cases of pregnant mothers with sleeping sickness, whose children were born-unaffected by the disease. The authors believe that the placental transmission of the human african trypanosomiasis is more frequent than thought.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Hematic radio-immunologic monitoring of clonazepam: clinical-pharmacological evaluations in a group of epileptic patients].

In a group of 22 epileptic patients under treatment with clonazepam (CNP) it has been evaluated the serum levels of CNP in a seried way for a period of several months, by a radio-immunological technique. Except for one patient, all the others were under politherapy. On the basis of the data obtained from this study we tried to evaluate the pharmachological action of CNP. Even if we found a good clinical efficacy of CNP with therapeutic ranges (from 19,57 +/- 10,98 ng/ml up to 60,16 +/- 31,18 ng/ml) we didn't find any correlation between the oral dose and serum level, taking into account also other parameters such as sex, pound and age. The Authors discuss the possible factors which may be thought involved in this lacking correlation.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Possible activating effect of subnarcotic doses of some anaesthetic drugs in clinical electroencephalography (author's transl)].

The use of subnarcotic doses of anaesthetic agents has been proposed, in the last few years, as a practical method for enhancing EEG activities in epileptic patients. Barbiturates such as Evipan or Brietal were used in the present study. Both electrographic and clinical effects occurred not only with the intravenous administration fo Brietal and Evipan but also with Althesin (a new non-barbiturate drug), in two groups of suspected and confirmed epileptics having either a normal or specific EEG pattern. These results were then compared with a normal control group. In a high percentage of instances all these drugs were found to induce either focal or generalized increase of epileptiform activities, as well as the appearance of latent epileptic abnormalities. The AA. stress the advantages these new techniques as ascreening method in suspected epilepsy.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Instrumental diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: correlation between electrophysiologic and cerebrospinal fluid findings].

Since a few years the technique of evoked potentials (PE), both visual (VERs) and acoustic (BAERs), of the encephalic trunk has been introduced in the diagnosis of SM. The electrophysiologic data thus obtained are usefully completed by liquor's ones, often allowing a precocious diagnosis of this disease. In this work the authors compare the results of liquor analyses (dosage of the relation IgG/total proteins; electrophoretic research of Oligoclonic Bands) with those of the PE in 28 patients with suspect SM. The high positive percentages of BAERs (78.8%) and of VERs (90%) in certain multiple scleroses, as well as in suspect multiple scleroses (53.6% and 82.1% respectively), prove the high sensibility of these techniques. The positive percentages of liquor analysis appear to be slightly inferior as to those of evoked potentials, even if these differences are not statistically significant. Besides the authors noticed a high degree of accordance between PE and liquor anomalies (in the cases of defined SM the patients with altered liquor presented at least an altered PE).

Brain Stem↗