Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to L Calliauw.
The author reports a series of 79 parasagittal meningiomas; 38 of them were invading the longitudinal sinus. The results, according to their localisation and grade of invasion, are compared to the results in the literature. Different surgical techniques are described.
The incidence of postoperative epilepsy in patients who had brain abscesses or subdural empyema is studied in 78 cases. This study is an attempt to answer the question whether prophylactic anticonvulsant drugs influence the natural history of this type of epilepsy.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The technique of the transethmoidal-transsphenoidal approach to the pituitary gland is described stepwise. The importance of a thorough preoperative radiological work-up and a preoperative X-ray image-intensifying control is outlined. The greatest disadvantages of the transethmoidal route are the extra-axial approach and the external scar. The greatest advantages are the shorter route than in the transseptal approach, the absence of endonasal complications and the minimal postoperative discomfort. In the own patient material consisting of 26 patients where a pituitary adenoma was removed, we noted no mortality, no meningitis and no endonasal complications. There were two cases of postoperative C.S.F. leak and one case of amaurosis and ophthalmoplegia of the heterolateral eye.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The authors report their experience with CT scanning ina series of 4 cases of subdural empyema, over a period of 10 months; all the patients were male, aged 16 to 25 years. A review of the literature shows that this disease, in spite of the large variety and efficacy of the available antibiotics, is marked by a significant mortality and morbidity rate if the diagnosis is delayed. Study of the cases reported here, as well as those in the literature, attests that CT scanning of the brain is nowadays the method of choice for early diagnosis of these lesions, and for timing of appropriate intervention according to variations in the development stage of the suppuration. From the study of this series of cases, it is clear that in the future, CT scanning of the brain will certainly allow the hope of a greater survival rate and an appreciable decrease in morbidity in cases of subdural empyema.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We have studied the lactate-level in the CSF of 40 patients with a severe head injury. After a first group of 20 patients we concluded that those levels were usefull for predicting the outcome of those patients. After receiving new informations about the normal metabolism of lactate in the CSF of man and animals, we became more suspicious. Therefore we have studied a new group of 20 patients. The levels of lactate, pyruvate, pH, pC02 and p02 were checked both in the CSF and in the blood for a longer period. An own coma-scale was used. The results are discussed.
The authors describe a series of 26 patients (28 operations) with Arnold Chiari malformations who were admitted during a 4 year period. In 20 the malformation was treated by direct surgery on the posterior fossa. Seven were treated by ventriculoatrial shunting. An analysis of the surgical risks of each procedure is given. In addition a helpful guide in the choice of the proper surgical procedure is outlined.
A woman of eighteen was operated because of an intracranial foreign body. It had penetrated the skull at the age of four. Now, it was discovered while the girl was consulting because of rhinitis.
The authors describe a case of a megadolichobasilar anomaly associated with basilar impression, bilateral megadolichocarotid arteries and an occipito-vertebral anastomosis. The concurrence of these anomalies lends support to the hypothesis that congenital factors play a part in the origin of the megadolichobasilar anomaly.
The authors first remind some toxicological and some pharmacological properties of piracetam (Nootropil), then present the results of a test giving evidence of the presence of this drug in the cerebrospinal fluid after intravenous administration to man. In a double blind study, the activity of piracetam is tested on 31 patients suffering from coma after head injury. Only 27 patients without intracranial space occupying lesions are taken into account. Methods and results are described. Piracetam, although showing no activity on mortality, improves the level of consciousness.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
PURPOSE: To find an optimal diagnostic protocol for the presurgical MR evaluation of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. METHODS: MR imaging in 14 healthy subjects and 25 consecutive patients with temporal lobe epilepsy was performed in paracoronal sections perpendicular to the hippocampi with T1-weighted inversion recovery and T2 weighting. Volume measurements of the hippocampus/amygdala complex were performed and a multiecho sequence yielded T2-calculated images. RESULTS: Hippocampal disease was seen in 22 of 25 temporal lobe epilepsy patients on paracoronal T1-weighted inversion recovery images. Four had bilateral abnormalities. Characteristic for hippocampal disease were features such as volume loss, decreased signal, and loss of internal morphology. Only 17 of 25 patients demonstrated hippocampal pathology on T2-weighted images, and in one patient this was bilateral. Patients with only minimal structural loss on T1-weighted inversion recovery had normal T2-weighted images. T2 calculation was no more sensitive than visual assessment on the T2-weighted images. Volume measurements were normal in one patient and misleading in two patients. Lateralization, as compared with clinical and electroencephalographic findings, was most confidently done with paracoronal T1-weighted inversion recovery images and volume measurements. CONCLUSIONS: An optimum MR protocol for temporal lobe epilepsy patients is proposed. Its essential feature is that the hippocampus be evaluated by paracoronal T1-weighted inversion recovery images and volume measurements. T2-weighted imaging can be omitted.