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Biomedical subjects

B Fraioli

Publications and source records attributed to B Fraioli.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Effects of stereotactic lesions of the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum in man.

In a series of 50 patients, 94 stereotactic lesions involving different parts of the dentate nuclei of the cerebellum were performed. 47 patients exhibited various dyskinetic syndromes; among these, 7 were also affected by epilepsy. In 3 patients epileptic disorders were exclusively present. Favourable results were obtained in dystonic and dystonic-athetoid infantile syndromes, more than in spastic syndromes. Some interesting effects on the epilepsy and ocular motility are also noted.

Adolescent↗

Bilateral cervical posterior rhizotomy: effects on dystonia and athetosis, on respiration and other autonomic functions.

Bilateral cervical posterior rhizotomy of C1 through C4, C5 or C6 was performed in 16 patients affected by dystonia and athetosis resulting from infantile cerebral palsy. The majority showed decreased muscle spasms and athetoid movements, with some improvements in their posture and voluntary mobility. 5 patients suffered from uneven and irregular breathing associated with lethargy immediately postoperatively, and 4 also showed reduced diaphragmatic activity; all 4 of these patients developed pneumonia, transitory in 3, but fatal to the other. Urinary retention lasting for a maximum of 3 months occurred in 4 of the 5 patients. The authors suggest that the lesion of ascending reticular fibers in the cervical posterior roots could have been responsible for the observations.

Adolescent↗

[Clinical study of dantrolene sodium in the treatment of spastic and dystonic syndromes].

Dantrolene sodium has been given to 45 patients suffering from dyskinetic syndromes: 33 were suffering from spastic syndromes, either secondary to cerebral lesions at birth, or to other cerebral lesions, or to cord lesions; 9 were affected by infantile dystonic syndromes; 1 by dystonia muscolorum deformans and the last 2 patients were suffering from parkinsonism. The best dosage schedule was individual and ranged from 50 mg to 300 mg a day. In this range, the majority of the spastic patients showed reduction of spasticity, unrelated with the site of pathology: a slight one in 12 patients, a moderate one in 9 and a marked one in 2. On the contrary, slight improvement has been noticed in only two of the patients suffering from dystonic syndromes. In no case side effects has been noticed. In all patients who underwent slight or moderate improvement only, we tried to obtain better results on spasticity by growing the dosage schedules; but we have always noticed side effects, that is weakness or drowsiness and, sometimes, urinary uncontinence. Moreover 2 patients showed evidence of transitory metabolic side effects. Therefore our experience shows that dantrolene sodium is an useful drug into the therapy of spasticity, even if often a slight of moderate improvement only is achieved. Slow increase in dosage schedule, repeated laboratory controls and alternate periods of treatment and suspended treatment should be observed.

Adolescent↗

[Posterior partial rhizotomy and a new technique, posterior partial radiclotomy, in the treatment of tonic spasticity (author's transl)].

A comparison between G r o s' technique and a new personal technique, performed in 24 patients suffering from spastic syndromes, offers an opportunity for a reappraisal of Foerster's method of treating spasticity. The best results were obtained in patients with postural spastic disorders. Because the posterior partial rhizotomy did not result in a complete preservation of deep sensation in all patients operated on, it seems questionable whether this technique should be performed in spastic patients who are acquiring (or have already acquired) an independent standing position of deambulation. The technique which we propose, the posterior partial radiclotomy, did not cause any sensory disorder and appears of therapeutic value also and especially in patients suffering from spastic syndromes of moderate degree.

Adolescent↗

Chronic paleocerebellar stimulation in dystonia and athetosis. Report of two cases.

Two patients suffering from dystonia and athetosis have been treated by means of chronic electrical stimulation of the paleocerebellum and were followed for over two and a half years. One of the patients showed signs of slight improvement, while no improvement at all was observed in the other patient. Some observations and problems are discussed.

Adult↗

[Selective posterior radiculotomy in the treatment of spasticity: immediate and long-term results].

Immediate and late results of a series of 44 patients suffering from spastic syndromes, operated on from January 1973 to December 1976 by selective posterior rootlet section, have been analyzed and reported. The operation consisted of a selective section of the dorsomedial part of the rootlets constituting each posterior root and was performed usually from L1 to S1 bilaterally. Thirty patients improved markedly after the operation and there were no immediate or late complications. The procedure caused no sensory disorders. The indications and contraindications to the operation are discussed.

Adolescent↗

[Diagnostic and therapeutic problems in dystonia musculorum deformans].

Taking as starging point three patients who unsuccessfully underwent both medical treatment and different neurosurgical interventions, the Authors discuss the problem of the dystonia musculorum deformans nosographic arrangement and its present therapeutical possibilities. They believe that the dystonia musculorum deformans must be considered, rather than as a syndrome, as a real disease, to be distinguished in particular from the various infantile dystonic syndromes and from spasmodic torticollis. In fact in these last morbid forms, at least from a neurosurgical standpoint, the therapeutical possiblities are not so uncertain as those of the dystonia musculorum deformans.

Adolescent↗