Biomedical subjects

M Kuskowski

Publications and source records attributed to M Kuskowski.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1990

Rapid dynamic CT scanning in primary degenerative dementia and age-matched controls.

Dynamic computed tomography (CT) scanning of the brain was performed in 26 patients with primary degenerative dementia (PDD) and in 15 age-matched controls without evidence of a dementing illness. Changes in CT density values over time were obtained for 16 regions of interest (ROIs) that were carefully chosen to avoid overlap with adjacent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), sulsi, or bone. CT density washout curves were compared between patients and controls to detect regions where blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability might be increased. Although the patients' washout curves declined more gradually than control curves in 11 of the 14 ROIs with a functioning BBB, in no case did the difference reach statistical significance. Intrarater correlation coefficients indicated good overall reliability in the selection of ROIs.

Aged↗

PubMed1990

Gender differences in TRH-stimulated TSH and prolactin in primary degenerative dementia and elderly controls.

We performed thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation testing in 18 nondepressed patients with primary degenerative dementia (10 M, 8F; average age +/- SD = 68 +/- 7) and 12 elderly controls (7M, 5F; average age +/- SD = 61 +/- 6). Six patients were retested approximately 2 years later. Initial Mini-Mental State Examination scores for patients ranged from 2 to 28 (average +/- SD = 18 +/- 6) and the scores for the control subjects were all equal to 30. Protirelin (500 micrograms) was injected iv and blood was sampled at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min for thyrotropin-stimulating hormone (TSH) and prolactin (PRL). There were no significant differences between patients and controls in baseline T4, T3 uptake, TSH, or PRL. No significant differences were found between patients and controls for either TRH-stimulated TSH or PRL at all time points. Duration of illness, severity of dementia, and severity of depressive symptoms did not correlate significantly with stimulation test results. There were, however, significantly greater responses in stimulated TSH and PRL for women compared with men in both patients and controls. Upon repeat testing (n = 6), TRH-stimulated TSH and PRL were not significantly different from the initial results.

Aged↗

PubMed1990

The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale: a reliability and validity study.

Twenty-eight nondepressed patients with DSM-III obsessive-compulsive disorder completed both the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and the Leyton Obsessional Inventory (LOI) once a week for a total of three times change. In general, the correlations between the Y-BOCS change scores and the Global Ratings were significantly greater than between the LOI and the Global scores, the Y-BOCS was found to be more reliable than the LOI. Correlations were also obtained for the baseline period between the Y-BOCS and Leyton scores. At the end of a 14-week trial of clomipramine, the Y-BOCS and the LOI were again administered along with a Physician and Patient Global Rating of change. In general, the correlations between the Y-BOCS change scores and the Global Ratings were significantly greater than between the LOI and the Global Ratings. This last finding suggests that the Y-BOCS is a better measure of clinical change than is the LOI.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Oxiracetam in the treatment of multi-infarct dementia and primary degenerative dementia.

Oxiracetam is a recently synthesized nootropic that was tested as a potential treatment for cognitive decline in patients with multi-infarct dementia (MID) and primary degenerative dementia (PDD). Subjects were 34 MID patients and 39 PDD patients who met entrance criteria for the study. A repeated measures ANOVA showed significant improvement in both patients with MID and patients with PDD for word fluency. The total score on the Relatives' Assessment of Global Symptomatology-Elderly showed significant improvement for patients with PDD. The average score on the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, however, showed a significant decline for patients with PDD.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1988

Latency and accuracy of word recognition in dementia of the Alzheimer type.

The sensitivity of reaction time (RT) measurement in assessing cognitive decline in dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) was evaluated. Sixteen DAT patients and 16 normal elderly controls, matched for age and education, read 50 stimulus words presented individually on a cathode-ray tube. DAT patients exhibited a significantly greater cognitive impairment as shown by multivariate analysis of variance (p less than 0.0001). Canonical variate correlations revealed RT (0.961) to be more sensitive to decline in cognitive functioning in dementia than the measure of number of reading errors (0.559). Results confirm that RT is a highly sensitive measure of central nervous system integrity, which allows for a more refined investigation of a patient's cognitive deficit than is obtainable with traditional test measures. These findings suggest that chronometric measures should be incorporated in clinical and research studies attempting to document the existence and severity of cognitive impairment in neurodegenerative disease.

Aged↗

PubMed1987

Abnormal ocular motor function predicts clinical diagnosis of familial ataxia.

Ocular motor performance was significantly impaired in familial ataxia patients as compared with normal controls. Ataxic patients showed prolonged saccadic latencies, longer saccadic refixation times, reduced visual tracking performance, and increased hypermetria. Cutoff values were derived and applied to 15 subjects at risk for developing familial ataxia. Three of 15 showed abnormal values in three or more of four categories of ocular motor performance. Within 3 years, all three subjects were diagnosed on clinical grounds as having familial ataxia. We conclude that ocular motor performance is impaired in familial ataxia and may prove useful for earlier diagnosis.

Eye Movements↗

PubMed1987

A psychiatric consultation/liaison clinic: follow-up of fifty-four patients referred from neurology.

To assess the impact of psychiatric consultation, the authors reviewed the charts of patients referred from a neurology clinic to an outpatient consultation/liaison psychiatry clinic. The patients were found to have both significant neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Only 46 percent returned to see their neurologists within six months of the referral. This finding highlights a major problem in outpatient consultation.

Adult↗

PubMed1979

The role of frames of reference in the development of responsiveness to shading information.

The use of frames of reference in interpreting shading information in pictures was studied with children from 3 to 8 years of age. After learning to discriminate tactually between a convexity and a concavity, the subjects were presented a photograph of the convexity and the concavity in which the only information for differential shape was provided by the relationship between the orientation of the shading on the shapes and the frames of reference. By changing the position of the subject's head, rotating the display, and changing the location of the source of illumination, the relevance of egocentric, environmental, and lighting-specified frames of reference was manipulated. Children in this age range were found to be sensitive to shading information for depth, both when that information was specified by only a single frame of reference and when all three frames of reference were relevant. Differences in the responsiveness to individual frames of reference were found: the egocentric (head-retina) frame of reference was most effective, followed by the environmental reference frame, and finally by the frame of reference based on the location of the light source in the space surrounding the photograph. Responsiveness to the environmental and lighting-based frames of reference increased with age, while responsiveness to the egocentric frame of reference was high for all age groups and did not increase with age.

Child↗