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Biomedical subjects

J Partanen

Publications and source records attributed to J Partanen.

336 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Gamma-vinyl GABA (vigabatrin) in epilepsy: clinical, neurochemical, and neurophysiologic monitoring in epileptic patients.

We report long-term clinical, neurochemical, and electrophysiologic data of gamma-vinyl GABA (GVG, vigabatrin) in three groups of patients. GVG was started as add-on therapy for 75 patients with refractory complex partial seizures (group A) and for 36 mentally handicapped patients with severe epilepsy (group B). The third group (C) consisted of 20 patients with carbamazepine (CBZ) monotherapy, in half of whom GVG monotherapy was substituted. After 3 months, 55% of patients in group A and 42% in group B were responders (reduction in seizure frequency greater than 50%). After 6 (group A) and 3 years (group B) of follow-up, 27 and 33% of the patients, respectively, still had good response to GVG. Neurochemical measurements showed a twofold increase in CSF GABA concentrations and minimal or no changes in other neurotransmitter-related parameters. In group C, substitution of GVG as medication tended to normalize the lengthened latencies in somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) observed during CBZ treatment.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of vigabatrin on the electroencephalogram in rats.

Vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl GABA; GVG) is a new antiepileptic drug (AED) that increases the level of the inhibitory transmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain. We evaluated the effect of GVG on the EEG of normal rats. GVG was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) at a dose of 100 mg/kg once a day for 12 days. EEG was recorded at baseline, on the fourth day, at the end of the 12-day GVG period and 10 days after discontinuation of GVG. GVG increased the amplitude of delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) frequency bands and resulted in slowing of the peak frequency (Fp) and mean frequency (Fm) in both the frontal and occipital cortex, especially during waking-immobility. EEG changes normalized within 10 days after the last GVG injections. The results suggest that a relationship may exist between the EEG changes and increase in GABA levels with GVG.

Aminocaproates↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A longitudinal quantitative EEG study of Alzheimer's disease: relation to apolipoprotein E polymorphism.

Apolipoprotein E (apoE) sigma4 allele is a risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is proposed to have an impact on cholinergic function in AD. Slowing of the EEG is characteristic in AD and the cholinergic system has an important role in modulating EEG. QEEG was recorded from 31 AD patients at the early stage of the disease and after a 3-year follow-up. AD patients were divided into subgroups according to the apoE sigma4 allele (2sigma4, 1sigma4 and 0sigma4). AD subgroups did not differ in clinical severity or duration of dementia. The AD patients carrying the sigma4 allele had more pronounced slow-wave activity than AD patients without the sigma4 allele, although the progression rate did not change. The differences in EEG may suggest differences in the degree of the cholinergic deficit in these subgroups.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Epileptic attack, delirium, and a Creutzfeldt-Jakob-like syndrome during mianserin treatment.

Our report concerns 2 patients who developed delirium after an epileptic attack during mianserin treatment. In both cases the EEG showed a change with periodic sharp slow complexes similar to that seen in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The symptoms subsided, however, and the EEG normalized after the antidepressant was discontinued, suggesting a noxious response to mianserin. If Creutzfeldt-Jakob-like changes in the EEG occur, the possible effect of antidepressant medication should be considered.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The influence of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields on the extrasystoles of human heart.

This investigation studied the effect of 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields on the extrasystoles of human heart. The electrocardiograms (ECG) of 27 transmission-line workers and 26 male volunteers were recorded with a Holter monitor both in and outside the fields. The electric field strength varied from 0.14 to 10.21 kV/m and the magnetic flux density from 1.02 to 15.43 microT. The measurement period was from half an hour to a few hours. Analysis of the ECG recordings showed that extrasystoles were as frequent outside the field as in the field. In some cases a small decrease in heart rate was observed after field exposure, but it is possible that the changes in the pulse rate were caused by small changes of work load.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Heart transplant rejection treated with plasmapheresis.

The vascular element of a mixed type of rejection after orthotopic heart transplantation did not respond to steroid therapy in a 30-year-old man. Plasmapheresis was associated with the resolution of the clinical signs of rejection and the microscopic changes of vasculitis in the biopsy specimen. This case suggests that plasmapheresis may be useful in the treatment of acute vascular rejection in heart transplantation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preoperative electroneuromyography and myelography in cervical root compression.

The preoperative diagnostic accuracy of electroneuromyography and myelography was evaluated in 77 patients with cervical radiculopathy and/or myelopathy. In 57% of the patients, the affected root level could be determined with ENMG (accuracy 1-2 segments), 10% had a non-specific finding, and in 33% of the patients, ENMG was normal. If the symptoms had lasted less than three months, 67% of the patients had a localizing finding in ENMG. Among the 97 operated root levels, there were distinct findings in myelography in 79, minor root sheath deformities in 13, and the finding was negative in five. In addition, in myelography there were clearly pathological root sheath deformities at 20 and minor changes at 20 root levels which were not operated. ENMG and myelography have a complementary role in the diagnosis of cervical root compression. By combining the information of ENMG and myelography, the functional significance of the morphological root sheath deformities can be assessed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Segmental hypermobility in lumbar spine and entrapment of dorsal rami.

Low back pain patients (N = 18) having segmental hypermobility in one lumbar segment and healthy controls (N = 13) were chosen for this study. Patients had no other structural spinal pathology except displacement of one vertebra to another in lateral X-ray bending pictures. Kinetic intramuscular EMG-activity from paraspinal muscles was studied off-line during back flexion and reextension. Routine needle EMG study of paraspinal muscles was also performed in addition to measurements of the tibial nerve H-reflexes and peroneal F-responses. Results showed that the number of MUAPs in erector spinae muscle on voluntary efforts was rarefied at hypermobile levels, and spontaneous activity, positive sharp waves and high frequency discharges were found in more than half of the patients in paraspinal muscles, usually at hypermobile levels only. No signs of proximal nerve root compression were found. This indicates neuropathy of dorsal rami at the instable level.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment of serious heart failure by transplantation in giant cell myocarditis diagnosed by endomyocardial biopsy.

We describe a 47-year-old man who had rapidly progressive heart failure caused by giant cell myocarditis with no response to steroid therapy. A successful heart transplantation was performed after life-threatening arrhythmias. The diagnosis was made by endomyocardial biopsy before transplantation, and it was confirmed by the histologic condition of the recipient heart. The patient has been on a triple-immunosuppression therapy with no signs of rejection or recurrence of giant cell myocarditis 23 months after surgery.

Biopsy↗