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A Portera

Publications and source records attributed to A Portera.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Vascular dementia. A clinicopathological study.

We have reviewed the clinical and pathological records of 40 aged patients who showed only vascular lesions on histological examination. They were followed up for 3.5 +/- 6.3 years before death, and in 28 cases the diagnosis of dementia was done during life. Demographic data, vascular and systemic illnesses, psychiatric neurological and neuropsychological disturbances, and pathological findings were compared between demented and non-demented patients. The number of strokes, several neurological and almost all neuropsychological disturbances, the volume of macroscopic cerebral infarct, especially in frontal, occipital and basal regions, the lacunar state and the white matter lesions, were significantly greater in demented patients. However most of them had less than 100 ml3 of brain infarct. The relative influence of each type of cerebral vascular lesion upon the dementia syndrome was determined by means of multivariate analysis. The volume of macroscopic cerebral infarct, the white matter lesion and the lacunar state showed quite similar contributions to mental deterioration.

Aged

Neurotransmitter changes in cerebrospinal fluid in the Spanish toxic oil syndrome: human clinical findings and experimental results in mice.

Patients with Spanish Toxic Oil Syndrome (TOS) complaining of neuromuscular symptoms had increased levels of homovanillic acid and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebrospinal fluid. Severity of pain and muscle cramps correlated with the magnitude of increment in levels of monoamine metabolites. Mice treated with oleyl anilide, a putative toxic compound found in some stocks of the toxic rapeseed oil, did not present clinical or anatomical findings compatible with TOS. However, biochemical studies in these mice revealed a depletion of serotonin and an elevation of 5-HIAA levels. Our findings suggest that the unidentified toxic agent of the TOS and oleyl anilide induce pharmacological changes in monoamine neurons of the brain.

Anilides