Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Serdaru.
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Two anatomo-clinical cases of a necrotic form of demyelinating disease are reported. The disease occurred in two women, had a late onset (patient were about 50 years old) and had a relapsing-remitting course during more than 10 years. The CSF displayed a high protein level over 125 mg/100 ml whereas the gamma-globulin level was normal. The anatomical study found symmetrical cavitations involving both hemispheres and optic tracts with clear-cut limits. Axons and myelin were both destroyed, only the vascular network being partially spared. At the lesion's border-line mononuclear cell infiltrates as well as some phagocytes with sudanophilic inclusions were found. The scarcity of the compound granular corpuscules suggest an old pathological process. A narrow zone of myelin-axonal dissociation was also observed. Astrocytic proliferations was unimportant. Blood vessels were normal. In one case plaques of multiple sclerosis were found in the spinal cord. Those two cases are unusual forms of a diffuse disseminated sclerosis: multiple sclerosis and Schilder's disease are considered as two anatomo-clinical variants of the same pathological process. The observed necrotic lesions are different from the acute necrotic forms of multiple sclerosis as the latter have rapidly developed. The long lasting course of the disease, over 10 years, allowed a complete resolution of the lesions explaining the cavitations. The late onset of the disease and the CSF high protein level are pointed out. The significant of the high protein level and normal gammaglobulin level in the CSF is discussed.
Metabolic and hormonal tests to assess plasma renin, aldosterone, and catecholamine activity were conducted in three patients with idiopathic orthostatic hypotension. Blood pressure readings were then taken in decubitus and orthostatism during treatment with 10 to 15 mg of tyramine and 30 mg of tranylcypromine. Marked functional improvement was observed, with an increase in mean blood pressure in decubitus and a less marked reduction in orthostatism avoiding the onset of severe discomfort. Therapeutic indications are limited, however, because of a possible hypertensive response.
This report concerns a hypertensive woman who suffered a stroke at the age of 51 and recovered from left hemiparesis after 3 to 4 months. During the subsequent 24 years she had four seizures which involved the left arm and face and became generalized, ending with left hemiparesis, from which she recovered after 4 to 5 days. Carotid angiography was performed in 1967, 1973 and 1974 and the characteristic picture of moyamoya disease was demonstrated. She died at the age of 77 with extensive vascular disease. The literature concerning 215 cases of moyamoya disease, in which there were 14 intracerebral hematomas, is reviewed and discussed.
Asterixis was observed in 20 cases of focal brain lesions. Metabolic or toxic factors were excluded. An electromyogram study of asterixis was carried out in nine cases to establish the diagnosis. The site of the focal lesion was either parietal or mesencephalic and was always contralateral to the asterixis. "Focal asterixis" could result from a dysfunction of the sensorimotor integration in the parietal lobe and the midbrain.
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We report three cases of Marchiafava-Bignami disease. The diagnosis was made on clinical grounds. Evidence of interhemispheric disconnection was found in all three cases. This included left hand anomia, left-sided apraxia, left-hand agraphia, and left-sided pseudoextinction to both visual and tactile stimuli. In two cases, there was a left-ear extinction on a dichotic listening test.
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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.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.