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Biomedical subjects

T A Fredriksen

Publications and source records attributed to T A Fredriksen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Cluster headache-like headache, Hageman trait deficiency, retrobulbar neuritis, and giant aneurysm. Autonomic function studies.

A 56-year-old, previously reported woman with cluster headache-like headache with bouts of unilateral (the side of predominance changing through the years) severe headache had a familial history (three generations) of partial Hageman factor deficiency and bleeding episodes. A giant aneurysm was found to be lodged in the anterior communicating artery on the left side. Clinically, the features were atypical for cluster headache: onset at a young age (14 years), episodes of retrobulbar neuritis appearing at the side of pain, etc. Studies of forehead sweating indicated that the right side was the pathologic one, from an autonomic point of view, as did pupillometric studies. However, during attacks, which were left-sided at the time, forehead sweating was marked laterally on the left side and on the upper eyelid, but not on the right. The "signal" usually reaching the autonomically stigmatized side during attacks of cluster headache, therefore, did not seem to reach the sweat glands on that (the right) side during the attack in the present case. This headache may, therefore, be distinct from cluster headache, both from a clinical and from an autonomic function point of view.

Autonomic Nervous System↗

Cervicogenic headache: the forehead sweating pattern.

Forehead sweating in 11 patients with cervicogenic headache was tested with the Evaporimeter. All were studied during heating experiments, 2 patients during exercise, and 10 patients after pilocarpine stimulation. Five patients were studied during spontaneous attacks. The evaporation during spontaneous attacks was symmetrical. This was also the case after heating, exercise, and pilocarpine stimulation. These findings differ clearly from the situation in cluster headache. These observations indicate that cervicogenic headache and cluster headache differ fundamentally with regard to autonomic involvement.

Adult↗

Sweat gland and pupillary responsiveness in Horner's syndrome.

Eight patients with Horner's syndrome (five with a 1st neuron lesion and three with a 2nd neuron lesion) were examined for their pupillary responses to pharmacologic stimulation with tyramine (2%) and with phenylephrine (1%) eye drops. The same patients were also evaluated for their forehead sweating pattern on stimulation with body heating and pilocarpine injection, using the Evaporimeter. Five patients had a brain stem (1st sympathetic neuron) lesion, while three patients had had a traumatic C8-Th1 root avulsion and hence had a preganglionic neuron lesion. The average response with the phenylephrine eye test and the pilocarpine sweat test differed markedly between the two groups; only the central neuron lesion group had a supersensitivity reaction to both drugs. These procedures may be of diagnostic value in localizing the lesion in patients with a Horner's syndrome of unknown etiology. Patients with 3rd neuron lesion have not been examined with this combination of techniques.

Aged↗

"Cervicogenic headache": clinical manifestation.

The main criteria of "cervicogenic headache" are considered to be as follows: relatively rare and long-lasting unilateral attacks of severe headache, although seemingly of a non-excruciating character, signs of neck involvement, and lack of "cluster pattern". In the present communication, the clinical manifestations in 11 patients fulfilling these criteria are described. All 11 patients selected in accordance with these criteria proved to be females, the age at onset ranging from 6 to 40 years (mean, 30 years). The mean duration of symptoms was 13 years. Six patients had had previous head/neck injuries. All patients had pain periorbitally, in the temporal region, and in the low occipital region (nape of the neck); less frequent were frontal, parietal, and facial pain and pain in the upper part of the occipital region. The duration of attacks was from 3 h to 3 weeks, and the interval between attacks lasted from 2 days to 2 months. The commonest accompanying phenomena were phonophobia, dizziness, ipsilateral eyelid edema, ipsilaterally blurred vision, and irritability. Some of the patients also had nausea (n = 7) and vomiting (n = 6). On physical examination, slight to moderate reduction of movements in the neck was noted, and five patients had ipsilaterally reduced sensation for touch in the trigeminal area. All the patients except one were severely afflicted. Attacks could, in addition to occurring spontaneously, be precipitated in all patients by head movements or by pressure at specific points in the neck.

Adult↗

Cluster headache pathogenesis: a pupillometric study.

Thirty-two cluster headache patients and healthy controls (n = 16-20 for the various tests) were examined by means of a Whitaker pupillometer during pain-free intervals. Eye drops of the sympathomimetic agents tyramine, hydroxyamphetamine, and phenylephrine were instilled into the conjunctival sacs on separate occasions, and pupillary diameters recorded at standard time intervals. The mydriatic responses of the two pupils were compared. A moderate, but statistically significant, basal relative miosis was found on the pain side in cluster headache. The symptomatic-side pupils were less responsive than their counterparts when stimulated with tyramine and hydroxyamphetamine, the difference being statistically significant for the OH-amphetamine test. With the phenylephrine test, however, the mydriasis on the symptomatic side significantly exceeded that of the contralateral pupil. This pattern of reactions does not quite correspond to those of "ordinary" Horner's syndrome (1st, 2nd, and 3rd neuron lesion). There are, however, gross similarities with the recently reported pattern in central sympathetic neuron dysfunction. In cluster headache there is probably a "Horner-like picture" rather than a proper Horner's syndrome.

Adult↗

Prognosis in subarachnoid hemorrhage of unknown etiology.

Thirty-two patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage of unknown etiology were followed for periods from 1 to 6 1/2 years. Two more patients had normal initial angiograms, but were excluded when repeat angiography revealed an aneurysm. The mortality rate in this series was 6%. There was one possible early and no late episode of rebleeding. One patient developed epilepsy. Five patients developed communicating hydrocephalus and underwent a shunting procedure. A complete recovery was observed in 12 patients. An additional eight had minimal disability, seven were more severely disabled, and three patients were totally disabled. Antifibrinolytic treatment (tranexamic acid) was given in a nonstandardized regimen to 14 patients who showed a poorer result than did the 18 untreated patients.

Adolescent↗

Electrical stimulation in multiple sclerosis. Comparison of transcutaneous electrical stimulation and epidural spinal cord stimulation.

Forty-nine multiple sclerosis patients with bladder symptoms and/or walking disability were subjected to a therapeutic trial with electrical spinal cord stimulation and transcutaneous electrical stimulation, a second aim being to compare these two treatments. A clear subjective improvement in bladder symptoms was achieved in the majority of the cases, and this was substantiated by objective parameters. In a proportion of cases a more moderate improvement seems to have been achieved in a variety of symptoms. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation seems to be a useful selection procedure for later electrical spinal cord stimulation.

Adult↗

"Hemicrania continua". An indomethacin responsive headache. II. Autonomic function studies.

Various autonomic parameters have been studied in two patients with "hemicrania continua", a newly described unilateral headache which is aborted by indomethacin. Striking findings were made on pupillometry: In both patients, isocoria was present when untreated. Bilateral instillation of tyramine in the conjunctival sac resulted in a late appearing anisocoria, with the smaller pupil on the symptomatic side. Indomethacin medication corrected this anomaly. These findings add further evidence to our firm belief that "hemicrania continua" differs fundamentally from chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, where such pupillometric changes are not found. There thus seem to be at least two different types of hemicranias with an absolute indomethacin effect.

Autonomic Nervous System↗

Cervicogenic headache: criteria, classification and epidemiology.

The concept that headache might stem from the neck is old. The term "cervicogenic headache" was coined in 1983. A new content was then given to this concept: cervicogenic headache (CEH) is in principle a unilateral headache, generally starting in the neck and "spreading" forwards. A strict unilaterality--that is, absolutely no pain on the opposite side--is rather rare. Unilaterality in this context is defined as follows: the headache dominates on one side. When weak, the pain may be only on that side; when severe, it may also be felt on the contralateral side, but to a lesser extent. It never dominates on the contralateral side. These special features of CEH cannot be emphasised strongly enough. There are signs pertaining to the neck, such as reduced range of motion in the neck, mechanical precipitation mechanisms and ipsilateral shoulder/arm sensation (or even pain). Migraine without aura symptoms are less prominent than in migraine.

Headache Disorders↗

The localization of the initial pain of attack. A comparison between classic migraine and cervicogenic headache.

Twenty-two patients with classic migraine and eleven patients with cervicogenic headaches were questioned about the localization of the initial and late pain during attack. Twenty of the classic migraine patients (91%) felt the initial pain in the forehead and temporal areas, whereas an ocassional, solitary primary involvement of the neck was found in one case (5%). As the attack evolved, there was a co-involvement of more areas. An initial involvement of the forehead and temporal area occurred in only 3 patients (27%) with cervicogenic headache, whereas 8 (73%) felt the initial pain in the neck. Also in the cervicogenic headache patients there was subsequent coinvolvement of more areas as the attack evolved. In the full-blown attack, the pain seemed very similar in the two patient groups. The localization of initial pain may be a useful feature in pattern recognition in headache diagnostics.

Adolescent↗

Electronic pupillometry in healthy controls. Response to sympathicomimetics.

The ocular sympathetic function was examined in 79 healthy volunteers (37 males and 42 females) by electronic pupillography. Pupillary diameters were first estimated under standard light conditions prior to drug application, these diameters being termed "basal values". Then, the pupils were stimulated pharmacologically by instillation of various sympathicomimetic drugs: tyramine tests were carried out in 42 individuals (24 females; 18 males), hydroxyamphetamine tests in 38 (22 females and 16 males), and phenylephrine tests in 43 individuals (23 females and 20 males). Generally, only a minor variation in the frequency of asymmetries was observed between sexes as well as between the various age groups, both when calculating the increase in pupillary diameter in millimeters, in per cent, and as the anisocoria index. In agreement with previous investigations, pupil size was found to diminish with age. The use of an age-matched control material is mandatory when comparing pupillographic recordings in patients in various categories, in the ordinary condition, as well as after topical drug administration.

Adolescent↗