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Biomedical subjects

T Rasmussen

Publications and source records attributed to T Rasmussen.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Comparison of two teaching methods for self-care training for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Group instruction in self care is a widely used adjunct to the medical management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Such classes are neither convenient nor accessible to all COPD patients, however, especially those in rural areas. A self-teaching module could be a practical means of serving hard-to-reach patients. This study compares the results of a self-teaching module with those of an established group method in teaching 13 self-care skills to COPD patients. On referral from their physicians, patients in eight rural locations were randomly assigned to receive training through a group or a self-teaching process. Knowledge gain, skill attainment, skill implementation, and beneficial results were measured at the end of instruction and again six months later. The two teaching methods were compared by analyzing the data on 34 patients matched for the variables of smoking, diagnosis, and severity of disease. No statistically significant difference was observed between the two educational methods in any of the parameters measured. The fact that approximately three out of four patients benefited through either process suggests that the self-teaching module is as effective as group instruction.

Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over↗
PubMed1980

Surgical aspects of temporal lobe epilepsy. Results and problems.

The Montreal Neurological Institute's experience with cortical resection for medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy had grown to 1,102 patients as of the end of 1978, 932 in the non-tumoral category and 170 patients with tumors, including a few major vascular malformations. Follow-up data, (complete to date or to the patients' death in over 80% of the patients) shows that 70% of those with 2 or more years of adequate follow-up data (median period 11 years) have experienced a complete or nearly complete reduction of the seizure tendency. Since the attack pattern frequently does not give evidence as to the lateralization of the epileptogenic area, special EEG techniques are often required to select those patients apt to benefit from temporal lobectomy. Sphenoidal recordings with chronically implanted fine wire electrodes have been particularly useful. Telemetry has enhanced the capability of recording a large number of epileptic spikes during sleep and various daytime activities and of recording spontaneous attacks. An automatic spike detection gadget gives promise of major help in analyzing these lengthy records. The addition of a video tape system, correlated with the EEG telemetry system, aids in determining the side of origin of the seizures. A small number of patients in whom this could not be determined with these various EEG techniques, were studied with stereotactically implanted chronic depth electrodes employing a modification of the Talairach-Bancaud technique. Over 3/4 of these patients were shown to have the onset of their seizures to be sufficiently well lateralized to warrant temporal lobectomy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Relative significance of isolated infantile convulsions as a primary cause of focal epilepsy.

Isolated infantile convulsions were noted in 206 patients (13%) of 1,572 patients who underwent cortical resection for medically refractory focal epilepsy at the Montreal Neurological Institute over the period 1928 through 1977. In 59 patients (29% of the 206), the isolated infantile convulsion was associated with an identifiable febrile systemic or neural illness. In 54 patients (26%), there was a definite history of cerebral birth injury in addition to the isolated infantile convulsions. Twenty patients (10%) had some other potential etiological factor for the later development of seizures, such as postnatal head injury, Sturge-Weber syndrome, etc., in addition to the isolated infantile convulsions. In 95 patients, 6% of the total 1,572 patient series and 41% of those with isolated infantile convulsions, the latter was the sole apparent cause for the later development of recurring seizures. Although this was the case in a small but significant percentage in this series of patients, more frequently, the isolated infantile convulsion represents a manifestation of invasion of the brain by an infectious agent of a systemic or brain disease, or is a harbinger of the later development of a seizure tendency due to some other preexisting etiological factor.

Birth Injuries↗
PubMed1978

Further observations on the syndrome of chronic encephalitis and epilepsy.

This report is a sequel to our 1958, 1960 and 1968 reports on a series of patients operated upon for focal epilepsy whose surgical specimens unexpectedly showed histological lesions typical of active encephalitis. None of these patients, now 27 in number, exhibited the clinical picture ordinarily associated with encephalitis. With one exception, all showed a severe focal seizure tendency beginning in infancy or childhood, often associated with episodes of epilepsia partialis continua. In addition, all except 2 showed slowly progressive neurological deterioration, usually hemiparesis and mental retardation, which advanced over periods of months or years before the progression became arrested. No infectious agent has yet been identified by standard viral studies carried out in the most recent 14 patients or by investigation for slow viruses in 6 patients operated upon between 1966 and 1971. The clinical course of this condition is outlined and the role, the timing and the results of treatment by craniotomy and cortical excision are discussed.

Brain↗
PubMed1977

The role of early left-brain injury in determining lateralization of cerebral speech functions.

Preparatory to craniotomy for the relief of medically refractory focal epilepsy, the lateralization of cerebral speech functions was determined by the Wada intracarotid Amytal test in 134 patients with clinical and radiologic evidence of an early left-hemisphere lesion. Their results were compared with those for 262 patients (140 right-handed, 122 left-handed), who were tested in a similar way. One-third of the patients with early lesions were still right-handed, and 81% of these right-handers were left-hemisphere dominant for speech. In the non-right-handers, speech was represented in the left cerebral hemisphere in nearly a third of the group, in the right hemisphere in half the group, and bilaterally in the remainder. Bilateral speech representation was demonstrated in 15% of the non-right-handers without early left-brain injury and in 19% of those with evidence of such early injury, whereas it was extremely rare in the right-handed groups. In addition, nearly half the patients with bilateral speech representation exhibited a complete or partial dissociation between errors of naming and errors in the repetition of verbal sequences after Amytal injection into left or right hemispheres. This points to the possibility of a functionally asymmetric participation of the two hemispheres in the language processes of some normal left-handers. The results of the Amytal speech tests in this series of patients point to locus of lesion as one of the critical determinants in the lateralization of cerebral speech processes after early left-brain injury. It is argued that in such cases the continuing dominance of the left hemisphere for speech in largely contingent upon the integrity of the frontal and parietal speech zones.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Role of the intracarotid amobarbital-pentylenetetrazol EEG test in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of patients with complex seizure problems.

The results of surgical treatment of intractable epilepsy seizures in a group of patients investigated with the intracarotid amobarbital-pentylenetetrazol EEG test were analyzed. This diagnostic test, originally designed to distinguish a mechanism of primary from that of secondary bilateral synchrony in the EEG was also used in a small group of patients with independent bilateral temporal epileptiform spiking. The test has been carried out in 99 patients of which 34 were operated on. Not all the operated patients fulfilled the test criteria for secondary bilateral synchrony.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Rod and cone sensitivity in destriate monkeys.

Photopic and scotopic spectral sensitivity of rhesus monkeys was determined before and after complete removal of the striate cortex. The monkeys were required to choose between a white and a series of monochromatic stimuli distributed throughout the visible spectrum. A modified method of limits was used to determine the psychophysical point of subjective equality at which the colored and white lights were perceived as being equally bright. The preoperative results indicated that the method of testing was appropriate to determine spectral sensitivity since the curves obtained compared favorably to the theoretical sensitivity curves. Postoperatively, the scotopic sensitivity curve was normal whereas the photopic curve was completely displaced towards the scotopic curve. The results as indicating that cone information is processed by the geniculo-striate visual system whereas the extra-striate structures receive their input mainly from the rod receptors of the retina.

Adult↗