No abstract available.
Aged* ; Humans ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases*

BACKGROUND: Drug-induced Parkinsonism(DIP) is the second commonest cause of Parkinsonism, after idiopathic Parkinson's disease(IPD). DIP is frequently produced by antipsychotic drugs. But the clinical characteristics of DIP did not get attention by neurologist. So we studied the clinical profiles of DIP patients. METHODS: We studied the clinical profiles of thirthone patients who showed parkinsonism after antipsychotic drug treatment. We compared the score of motor part of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale(UPDRS) between trihexyphenidyl(n=15) & amantadine(n=16) monotherapy group(initial & 4 week after treatment). RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 45 years. Bradykinesia was the 1st symptom in 26 patients(94%), tremor in 5 patients(6%). In 25 patients(81%), the first symptom appeared within 1 week after sntipsychotic treatment. There was a statistical significant negative correlation between the dosage of antipsychotic drug and the symptom-onset interval following treatment with antipsychotic drugs(simple correlation analysis, p>0.01). Bradykinesia and rigidity were appeared in all DIP patients, symmetric distribution was more common(94%, 87%) Tremor occurred in 27 patients (87%). In patients with tremor, postural or action tremor was dominant in 15 patients(56%) asymmetric distribution was more common(16/27, 59%). There are no statistical difference in motor score of UPDRS between trihexyphenidyl & amantadine monotherapy group(student t-test, p<0.05) CONCLUSIONS: Bradykinesia was the most common 1st symptom in DIP patients. Asymmertrical postural or action tremor was relativelly common in DIP. Amantadine showed the same efficacy in the treatment of DIP compared to anticholinergics.
Amantadine ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Cholinergic Antagonists ; Humans ; Hypokinesia ; Parkinson Disease ; Parkinsonian Disorders* ; Tremor ; Trihexyphenidyl

No abstract available.
Pulmonary Aspergillosis*

Huntington's disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder that usually begins in mid-life and is characterized by a progression of involuntary choreiform movements, personality change, and dementia. 4 specific unstable trinucleotide (CAG) repeat expansion in a gene on the short arm of chromosome 4 was recently identified as the pathogenic mutation for this disease. We have analysed the CAG expansion in peripheral leukocyte from a woman suspected with Huntington's disease and her family. A 40-year-old woman visited for the 6 years history of progressing intractable involuntary hyperkinetic movement and antagonistic personality. She showed bilateral caudate nucleus atrophy with mild enlargement of both frontal horn at brain MRI and showed the decrement of glucose metabolism in both basal ganglia at 18F-FDG PET scan. We also studied about the clinical manifestations of her family. Her younger brother also showed mild cognitive impairment and dysarthria. She and her relatives (n = 6) were tested for the existence of high risk allele of Huntington's disease by polymerase chain reaction method. The high risk allele (above 40 CAG repeat) in the 1715 gene was confirmed in 6 persons including the patient. The CAG repeat variance was 46 to 54. Only one person showed the normal range of CAG repeat.
Adult ; Alleles ; Animals ; Arm ; Atrophy ; Basal Ganglia ; Brain ; Caudate Nucleus ; Chorea ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 ; Dementia ; Diagnosis* ; Dysarthria ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Genes, vif ; Glucose ; Horns ; Humans ; Huntington Disease* ; Hyperkinesis ; Leukocytes ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Metabolism ; Mild Cognitive Impairment ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Reference Values ; Siblings

Background & Objectives: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of radiculopathy in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients through electrodiagnostic tests, to assess associated radicular pain characteristics,and to investigate the relationship between pain and other clinical manifestations of PD. Methods: Electrodiagnostic testing including nerve conduction studies and needle electromyographywas performed to investigate comorbid peripheral neuropathy or radiculopathy. All patients were asked to complete aquality of life (QOL) measurement related to pain. Results: Thirty-two (39%) of 82 PD patients had radiculopathy based on electrodiagnostic testing. 46.9% with radiculopathy patients had involvement of multiple roots level. The most commonly involved root was L5 (83.3%). Patients with radiculopathy had longer PD durations (p=0.011) and higher posture-related axial scores on the UPDRS scale (p=0.017).There was a trend for pain in the leg and low back to occur more frequently in PD patients with radiculopathy. QOL is not significantly different according to the presence of radiculopathy in PD. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a high prevalence of radiculopathy, particularly multiple root involvement, and is correlated with pain complaints and with axial motor scores on UPDRS. These findings might be related to increased shear force at the intervertebral disc by axial rigidity and flexed posture in PD along with the duration and severity of PD disease course.
Parkinson Disease ; Radiculopathy

PURPOSE: Tension-free hernioplasty has become the most popular procedure for the repair of groin hernias in the United States and United Kingdom. The purpose of this study is to describe a 7-year personal experience with Lichtenstein's tension-free groin hernia repair under local anesthesia. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the clinical outcome of 321 cases of Lichtenstein repairs, performed consecutively by an experienced surgeon between Jan. 1994 and Dec. 2000. RESULTS: Of the 321 cases, 242 (75.4%) were indirect, 34 (10.6%) were direct, 8 (2.5%) were femoral, 7 (2.2%) were pantaloon, and 30 (9.3%) were recurred hernias. The mean age was 55 years; 91% were male. The mean number of injections of analgesics required in the postoperative period was 3.2. The mean hospital stay following repair was 2.7 days. Complications occurred in 23 cases (7.1%). Most of these were minor, consisting of five cases of bruising or hematomas (1.6%), four superficial infections (1.3%), three seromas (0.9%), two hydroceles (0.6%), six patients with persisting groin pain for more than a month (1.8%), one foreign body granuloma, one urinary retention, and one testicular atrophy. There were no recurrences or operative deaths. CONCLUSION: Lichtenstein's tension-free hernioplasty is an easy and simple technique with less pain, minor complications and only rare instances of recurrence. This procedure can be performed on a same-day basis under local anesthesia. Lichtenstein repair may be the most promising technique for the repair of groin hernias.
Analgesics ; Anesthesia, Local ; Atrophy ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body ; Great Britain ; Groin* ; Hematoma ; Hernia* ; Herniorrhaphy ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Postoperative Period ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Seroma ; United States ; Urinary Retention

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Spontaneous progression of severe congestive heart failure is structurally characterized by cellular degeneration and multiple foci of myocardial cell death. The cardiac troponin I (cTnI), one of the subunits of the troponin regulatory complex, binds to actin and inhibits interaction between actin and myosin. cTnI is uniquely expressed in the adult human myocardium, and an increase in its circulating levels is highly indicative of myocardial injury. In this study, we addressed the usefulness of cTnI as a sensitive and specific molecular marker for severity in patients with congestive heart failure. MethodscTnI, creatinin kinase-MB (CK-MB), and myoglobin were assessed in 59 patients with severe congestive heart failure diagnosed by the echo-cardiography and gated equilibrium blood pool heart scan. Also we assesed cTnI, creatinin kinase-MB (CK-MB), and myoglobin in 25 persons without cardiac disease in echocardiography. RESULTS: 1) The cTnI con-centration was 89.6+/-69.3 pg/mL in patients with congestive heart failure and its level was greater than that of the control group (22.4+/-17.1, p=0.001). 2) The cTnI level differed significantly according to left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), 117.3+/-73.8 pg/mL in patients with EF\<40% (28 patients), 66.3+/-44.5 pg/mL in patients with EF> or =40% (31 patients), 22.4+/-17.1 pg/mL in the control group (25 persons) (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: cTnI was useful as a specific and sensitive serum molecular marker in patients of congestive heart failure. And its level reflected the severity of congestive heart failure.
Actins ; Adult ; Cell Death ; Echocardiography ; Equidae ; Estrogens, Conjugated (USP)* ; Heart ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Failure* ; Humans ; Myocardium ; Myoglobin ; Myosins ; Stroke Volume ; Troponin I* ; Troponin*

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease is the primary degenerative disease characterized by rigidity, bradykinesia and resting tremor. Even though dopaminergic cell loss of the substantia nigra compacta is a main pathogenesis of the Parkinson's disease, the striatal dysfuntion is major pathophysiology of pakinsonian symptoms. METHODS: Since gene expression profile can explain the symptomatic varieties of Parkinson's disease, gene expression was investigated in the striatum of rat brain after lesioning of unilateral substantia nigra compacta with 6-hydroxydopamine using cDNA microarray technique for the first time. The expression patterns of 5,200 rat brain cDNAs were screened and clustered according to the function of gene. The expression patterns of enkephaline and substance-P mRNA were also studied for validation of animal preparation. RESULTS: Various genes involved in apoptosis, cytokines. cytoskeletal molecules, neurotrophic factors, receptors, intracellular Ca2+ metabolism, signal transduction, stress protein, cell cycle regulator protein, and expressed sequence tags(EST) have shown significant expression changes. CONCLUSIONS: These gene expressions provide the global assessment of the processes involved in secondary change of striatum afforded by dopaminergic denervation at molecular levels.
Animals ; Apoptosis ; Brain ; Cell Cycle ; Cytokines ; Denervation ; DNA, Complementary ; Enkephalins ; Gene Expression ; Hypokinesia ; Metabolism ; Models, Animal* ; Nerve Growth Factors ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Oxidopamine* ; Parkinson Disease ; Rats* ; RNA, Messenger ; Signal Transduction ; Substantia Nigra ; Transcriptome ; Tremor

BACKGROUND: The possible role of apolipoprotein E (APOE for gene, apoE for protein) allele in atherosclerotic diseases is not clearly understood. For the putative role of APOE genotypes, we examined APOE polymorphism among patients with stroke. METHODS: A total of 202 ischemic stroke patients were involved in this study. The genotype DNA was isolated from whole blood and the APOE alleles were determined by polynicrase chain reaction. RESULTS: The genotype of APOE epsilon3/3 was the most common allele in the stroke group and the control group. The frequencies of APOE epsilon2, epsilon3, epsilon4 allele in stroke group were 0.052, 0.851, and 0.097, respectively. There was no significant difference in APOE genotypes between the stroke group and the control group. No significant associations lions were found for the APOE genotypes and the serum lipid profiles. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that APOE was not related to the stroke,
Alleles ; Apolipoprotein E2 ; Apolipoproteins E ; Apolipoproteins* ; DNA ; Genotype ; Humans ; Lions ; Stroke

Pure word deafness is a cluucal syndrome included among the aphasias and is marked by complete deafness of sudden onset with conserved ability to understand and read the written word and with no speech disorders. We report the case of 55year-old female in whom pure word deafness developed after episode of stroke. Neuroimaging procedures, that is : computed tomography scan and MRI, revealed the presence of hemorrhagic lesion in right putamen, mainly the white matter of the temporal and parietal lobes and large open schizencephaly in left temporoparietal area. Neurophysiological investigations (electroencephalogram and brainstem auditory evoked potentials) were also studied. It is proposed that pure word deafness which might be caused by a impairment of the language function possibly transferred to the nondominant, right hemisphere due to congenital dominant hemisphere lesion.
Aphasia ; Brain Stem ; Deafness* ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Malformations of Cortical Development ; Neuroimaging ; Parietal Lobe ; Putamen ; Speech Disorders ; Stroke