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Biomedical subjects

R T Pratt

Publications and source records attributed to R T Pratt.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Effect of electroconvulsive therapy on serum myelin basic protein immunoreactivity.

A sensitive radioimmunoassay that can detect brain damage in cases of head injury and stroke was applied to blood samples from 13 patients before and after they received multiple treatments with electroconvulsive therapy for psychiatric disorder. None of the patients showed a significant increase in serum myelin basic protein immunoreactivity. As increased serum myelin basic protein immunoreactivity may reflect myelin damage it is apparent that in these patients electroconvulsive therapy did not cause measureable breakdown of myelin.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

The significance of laterality effects.

Language laterality can be unequivocally ascertained by comparing the effects of unilateral ECT to the right and the left hemisphere. It has been shown in right-handed depressed patients that a unilateral treatment to the left hemisphere resulted in transient dysphasia whereas unilateral ECT to the right hemisphere did not. The language laterality in a small group of left-handed depressed patients has been ascertained. Evidence is presented to show that neither dichotic listening nor hand position for writing provide satisfactory indices of language laterality. The ear advantage was more closely related to strength of sinistrality than to language laterality--that is sidedness appears to overide brainedness. The results favour a spatial attention hypothesis rather than a structural hypothesis as the main determinant of laterality effects.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Electroconvulsive therapy in Parkinsonian patients with the "on-off" syndrome.

Marked, abrupt and disabling oscillations in motor performance--the "on-off" phenomenon--frequently occur in the course of long-term levodopa therapy for Parkinson's disease. Although these fluctuations are usually refractory to available medications it has recently been suggested that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be beneficial Five Parkinsonian patients with incapacitating and unpredictable "on-off" changes who were free of significant depression were given conventional bilateral ECT while usual drug regimens were maintained. While ECT was well tolerated, after a total of six treatments no significant improvement in Parkinsonian disabilities or "on-off" changes were seen.

Depression↗
PubMed1980

Evoked potentials following unilateral ECT. I. The somatosensory evoked potential.

The somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) was recorded in 14 patients undergoing unilateral ECT for the treatment of depression. All patients received right-sided ECT. One patient was studied on a second occasion during leftsided ECT. The index and middle fingers of each hand were electrically stimulated 1/sec throughout anaesthesia, the fit and the 0.5 h period following the fit. During barbiturate anaesthesia the SEP showed the characteristic change of the P49 component and enhancement of P32, while during the seizure induced by right ECT, the SEP was seen more clearly on the left side of the head, despite the high voltage epileptic activity. No significant asymmetries of any of the SEP components were seen post-ictally, the response returning rapidly on both sides. The subjective threshold to electrical stimulation of the fingers of each hand was significantly raised following ECT.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Evoked potentials following unilateral ECT. II. The flash evoked potential.

The flash evoked potential (VEP) was recorded in 16 depressed patients before, during and for 0.5 h following administration of unilateral ECT. In 14 the recordings were made following right ECT and in 3 following left ECT. One patient was recorded after right- and left-sided treatments administered on separate occasions. While the patients were conscious, responses were averaged with eyes open and eyes closed. During anaesthesia, ictus and post-ictal coma the response to repetitive stimulation through closed eyes was recorded continuously in sequential runs. Consistent latency differences between VEPs with eyes open and closed were established in the runs prior to treatment. In postictal coma there was a marked asymmetry in the response from the two sides. Component P140, in particular, was significantly smaller and later over the side which received ECT. On average, these asymmetries lasted less than 15 min following the treatment. A significant latency increase, common to both hemispheres, was found at the end of the recording session.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

EEG immediately after unilateral ECT.

EEG was continuously recorded in 15 patients for a period extending from just before to 1/2 hour after unilateral ECT. Fourier analysis was performed on the EEG following 15 right-sided treatments and five left-sided treatments. During the induced seizure, epileptic slow-wave activity had significantly greater power on the treated side. Immediately after the seizure, there was significantly more delta activity and less alpha and beta activity on the treated side. This asymmetry, though becoming less marked, was usually still present at the end of the recording period. Analysis of other variables associated with the treatment showed that there was a significant correlation between the time to eye-opening after ECT and both the duration of the seizure and the amount of anaesthetic administered. The similarity between these induced unilateral seizures and unilateral seizures occurring spontaneously in some epileptics is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Neurological asymmetries immediately after unilateral ECT.

Twenty-nine right handed patients were examined neurologically before and immediately after each of 62 unilateral ECTs to the dominant and non-dominant hemispheres. Most convulsions were followed by signs of transitory neurological dysfunction referable to the treated hemisphere. These signs included deep tendon reflex asymmetry, hemiparesis, tactile and visual inattention, and homonymous hemianopia. After treatment to the right hemisphere some patients had left visuospatial neglect, while all patients who had dominant hemisphere ECT were transiently dysphasic. All neurological abnormalities tested resolved within 20 minutes of treatment.

Aphasia↗