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Biomedical subjects

J Metzger

Publications and source records attributed to J Metzger.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

[Torsion dystonia of the left upper limb probably due to a head injury. Calcification of the head of the right caudate nucleus discovered by tomodensitometric examination].

A young man (30 years) suffered a head injury in the course of a road accident. Four years after the accident, there was progressive development of hypertonia of the muscles of the left shoulder in association with certain movements, with torsion dystonia of the left upper limb. The presence of minimal neurological signs differentiated this cases from so-called idiopathic torsion dystonia. Tomodensitometry revealed an opacity of the head of the right caudate nucleus which was invisible on standard skull films. The authors discuss the physiopathology problems raised by this special case.

Adult↗

Delineation of pituitary adenomas by angiotomography.

The supra sellar extension of even small sized pituitary adenomas can be delineated with accuracy by angiotomography. This technique avoids the discomfort of pneumoencephalography in many patients. Angiotomography is also useful for the differential diagnosis of empty sellae.

Adenoma↗

Diagnosis of pinealoblastomas by positive response to cobalt-therapy.

Surgical excision of pineoblastomas is considered dangerous, and relief of raised intracranial pressure by shunting followed by cobalt therapy is the preferred treatment. Demonstration by pneumoencephalography of tumour shrinkage after therapy confirms the diagnosis of pineoblastoma. Failure of the tumour to become smaller indicates a different pathology which calls for a surgical approach, except in the case of a brain stem tumour.

Adolescent↗

The primary empty sella an endocrine study on 12 cases.

Twelve patients (10 women and 2 men) with a primary empty sella turcica were studied. Endocrine function tests were performed as follows: growth hormone (GH) was measured after insulin-induced-hypoglycaemia, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) after LH-releasing hormone, thyrotrophin (TSH) and prolactin after thyrotrophin-releasing hormone; pituitary reserve of adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) was determined by measurement of plasma cortisol after lysine-vasopressin and 11 deoxycortisol after metyrapone. Five of the patients (group A) had no endocrine disturbance. Seven patients (group B) had a hypothalamo-pituitary disorder. Two of them had panhypopituitarism which appeared in one case after meningoencephalitis and in the other after a severe cranial trauma. In two cases an amenorrhoea-galactorrhoea syndrome with increased prolactin level (68 and 230 ng/ml) led to a diagnosis of a prolactin producing adenoma, which was confirmed by surgery. Finally three cases of amenorrhoeagalactorrhoea, with normal prolactin level, and/or diabetes insipidus remained unexplained. However, no causal relationship could be demonstrated between the pituitary disturbance and the "empty sella". Primary empty sella turcica is therefore a neuroanatomical and neuroradiological entity with no endocrine implication. A pituitary disorder might suggest a microadenoma or an incidentally associated disease.

Adolescent↗

[Prolactin-secreting adenomas. Radiologic signs].

The sellar and tomo-encephalographic changes in pituitary prolactin secreting adenomas are described on the base of 75 cases detected within a period of 2 years. In the diagnosis of smaller adenomas in which the sellar findings may be questionable, the value of fractionated encephalography is emphasized, and especially of frontal tomograms, in order to demonstrate a lateral bulging of the sellar diaphragm and a shift of the pituitary stalk to the opposite side.

Adenoma↗

[Effect of fractionated pneumoencephalography on intracranial pressure].

The major changes in clinical condition during and after encephalography may be explained by intracranial pressure variations. If neither intracranial hypertension nor CSF dynamic perturbations exist, minimal complications may be predicted, but in intracranial hypertension immediate deterioration may occur. Despite an apparently good level of tolerance, complications may develop if the compensation phenomena cannot occur: normal pressure hydrocephalus, craniosynostosis. In the cases with good clinical tolerance, minimal changes occur when air injection is administered at a slow rate and with a small volume.

Atrophy↗

[Intraspinal venous hypertension due to multiple anomalies in the caval system. A major cause of myelopathies].

Increased venous intraspinal pressure is described as a venous system disease, resulting in numerous unexplained paraplegias and tetraplegias. The chronic venous stasis in the intraspinal plexuses, into which the circulation of the spinal cord is drained, is due to the association of multiple abnormalities (stenoses, compressions, thromboses) on the major pathways of the caval and azygos system. The abnormalities, most of which are not known, are demonstrated by a special procedure, the cavo-spinal phlebography, and some of them are subjected to surgery.

Azygos Vein↗

[Cavo-spinal phlebography in myelopathies of venous origin. Application of the method in 115 cases].

The intraspinal venous stasis, described by ABOULKER as the cause of numerous myelopathies, is due to the addition of multiple venous abnormalities, demonstrated by cavospinal phlebography. The venae cavae and their major affluents and the prespinal system (lumbar and ascending lumbar veins, azygos, hemi-azygos, right superior intercostal and vertebral veins) are explored by catheterization. Cavo-spinal phlebography reveals multiple obstacles and the resulting stasis in the intraspinal plexus.

Azygos Vein↗

Demonstration of cystic brain tumors by angiotomography.

Cysts in cerebral tumours, as small as 1 cm in diameter, have been demonstrated by angiotomography with the sections made in the frontal plane. Two signs suggest a cystic lesion; a geometrically round, vessel-like outline in either the arterial or venous phase, resulting from a cystic cavity under pressure, and, during the parenchymatous phase, a radiolucent area having a radiological contrast identical to the non-injected hemisphere.

Brain Neoplasms↗

[Stenosis of the cervical spinal canal: acquired? congenital].

The authors show that it is impossible to describe congenital stenosis of the cervical rachidian canal with a particular morphology that would make it possible to recognize the condition before the appearance of neurological signs. They do not deny its existence, but at the moment there is no proof, and hope of a prophylaxis for the neuropathy is not justified. On the other hand, there is clearly a possibility of an acquired stenosis. The term arthrosis is so generalized that it has lost nearly all its meaning. The rheumatologist knows the complex lesions comprise osteophytes and thickening of the soft parts next to the bone, and can be accompanied by hypertrophy of the neighbouring bone tissue; projection of the disc, proceeding from a soft hernia to diffuse protrusion and to ossification, is one aspect among others. It is useful to analyse these factors and those concerning the vessels and nerve tissues both in the study of individual cases and in general studies.

Aged↗

[Cutaneous elastopathy and vascular anomalies associated with neurological disorders. Apropos of 2 cases].

The two cases described exhibited elastopathy associated with arterial stenosis (case 1) or aneurysms (case 2). The first was clearly a case of elastic pseudo-xanthoma with characteristic cutaneous lesions associated with retinal angioid streaks and severe arterial lesions, notably stenosis of the vertebral arteries (especially the left) causing disorders in the mechanism of balance. There were, in addition, mild diabetes, hyperlipidaemia and abnormal cutaneous pigmentation. The second patient, an African, had been hospitalised for an optochiasmatic syndrome which further investigation, notably by arteriography, indicated was caused by compression of the visual pathways due to massive bilateral carotid aneurysms. The patient had molluscoid pseudo-tumours of the axillae and she reported that her father was in the same condition. Although in the first case, cutaneous biopsy enabled diagnosis of systematized elastorrhexis to be confirmed, histological investigation in the second case revealed mainly hyaline sclerosis of the deep dermal layer. The diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos disease, suggested for this second patient, could not be confirmed. These two cases emphasize the possibility of various neurological disorders occurring in the course of dystrophy of the connectivo elastic tissue.

Adult↗