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Biomedical subjects

C J Vecht

Publications and source records attributed to C J Vecht.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Anti-neuronal antibodies in paraneoplastic neurological disorders with small-cell lung carcinoma.

Auto-antibodies of the neuronal anti-nuclear antibody (anti-Hu) type were found in serum of three patients suspected of a paraneoplastic syndrome of the central nervous system. In all three a small cell carcinoma of the lung was detected. The sera showed bright staining of neuronal nuclei sparing the nucleolus. In two patients the antibody was of the IgG class (titers 1:1600 and 1:4000). In one patient only an IgM class antibody was present (titer 1:1000). The presence of the anti-Hu antibody strongly supports a diagnosis of a paraneoplastic neurological syndrome associated with small cell carcinoma of the lung.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Arm pain in the patient with breast cancer.

The causes of ipsilateral arm pain were analyzed in a consecutive series of 38 patients with breast cancer. A lesion of the brachial plexus was diagnosed in 17 patients, of whom 8 had tumor involvement, 5 had radiation fibrosis, 1 had lymphedema entrapment, and 3 had a probable transient neuritis of the plexus. In four patients, a cervical radiculopathy was found; two of these patients had a Horner's syndrome. A carpal tunnel syndrome was seen in four patients and could possibly be attributed to lymphedema in two patients. In five patients, a pericapsulitis of the shoulder joint was seen. Seven of eight patients with a postsurgical pain had a neuropathic pain related to damage of the intercostobrachial nerve induced by a postaxillary dissection. These diagnoses probably indicate the most common causes of ipsilateral arm pain in breast cancer. A postaxillary dissection pain seems the most frequent type of postsurgical pain in breast cancer.

Arm↗
PubMed1990

Immunohistochemical analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid for carcinomatous and lymphomatous leptomeningitis.

To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of immunohistochemical analysis in relation to the standard cytological examination of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with either a solid tumour or a haematological malignancy and possible leptomeningeal disease, 68 CSF-samples derived from 68 patients were examined. The sensitivity of immunohistochemical analysis was 0.54 and its specificity 0.98. Only one patient had a positive immunohistochemistry and a negative cytology. The gain of adding immunohistochemistry to cytology is nearly 8%. It is concluded that immunohistochemistry should not be used as a screening test for leptomeningeal disease in patients with cancer.

Carcinoma↗
PubMed1990

Diagnostic value of anti-neuronal antibodies for paraneoplastic disorders of the nervous system.

The diagnostic value of the presence of anti-neuronal antibodies in serum was examined in 21 patients suspected of paraneoplastic disorders of the nervous system (NS) (group 1) and was compared to three control groups; group 2: 25 patients with a neurological disease, without cancer and no sign of paraneoplastic disorder; group 3: 27 patients with neurological disease and cancer and no signs of a paraneoplastic disorder; group 4: 94 patients with cancer and without neurological disease. In group 1, anti-neuronal nuclear antibodies were detected in eight patients (38%), in titres from 1:1000 to 1:32,000. A small cell lung cancer was present in six patients, ovarian cancer in one patient and in one patient no tumour could be detected. The neurological symptoms preceded a diagnosis of cancer in five out of eight patients. Anti-neuronal antibodies were found in the serum of two out of 94 patients (2%) from control group 3 but not in serum from any of the other control groups. These data indicate a moderate sensitivity of 38%, but a high specificity of 98.6% (95% confidence interval 95.5-99.8%) for the presence of anti-neuronal nuclear antibodies if a paraneoplastic NS disorder is suspected.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1990

The influence of the extent of surgery on the neurological function and survival in malignant glioma. A retrospective analysis in 243 patients.

A retrospective analysis was performed on 66 patients with anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) and 177 patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GM). The prognostic importance of age, performance status, tumour location, extent of surgery and radiation treatment was studied. Radiation therapy gave a significant improvement in survival in both AA (p less than 0.003) and GM (p less than 0.002), but was given only to patients in a good neurological condition. Both younger age (p less than 0.003), and good preoperative performance status (p less than 0.002) were associated with a longer survival in AA, but not in GM. Extensive surgery was correlated with a better immediate postoperative performance, a lower one-month mortality rate and a longer survival, in both AA and GM. There was no relationship between preoperative neurological function status and the extent of surgery. Because of the retrospective nature of this study, the conclusion is that performing extensive surgery instead of limited surgery does not lead to more deterioration in postoperative neurological function.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1989

Post-axillary dissection pain in breast cancer due to a lesion of the intercostobrachial nerve.

Seven patients with breast carcinoma and post-axillary dissection pain are described. They complained about pain in the axilla, inner side of the upper arm and/or shoulder. All had undergone a partial or radical breast amputation including an axillary lymph node dissection. On neurological examination all had evidence of a lesion of the intercostobrachial nerve. The pain was not associated with lymphedema and only one patient had undergone radiotherapy to the axillary and supraclavicular area. Post-axillary dissection pain is probably a more appropriate name than the usual post-mastectomy pain for this syndrome. During the dissection, the intercostobrachial nerve is often lesioned, which may give rise to neuropathic pain of that nerve.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Initial bolus of conventional versus high-dose dexamethasone in metastatic spinal cord compression.

We randomly assigned dexamethasone in an initial bolus of 10 mg IV or 100 mg IV followed by 16 mg daily orally to 37 patients with metastatic spinal cord compression. The average pain score before the start of treatment was 5.2 (SD = 2.8) and decreased significantly (p less than 0.001) to 3.8 at 3 hrs, 2.8 at 24 hrs, and 1.4 after 1 week. There were no differences between the conventional and high-dose group on pain, ambulation, or bladder function.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Segmental rigidity and spinal myoclonus as a paraneoplastic syndrome.

A 68 year old woman is described with persisting muscular rigidity of the left lower leg together with transient myoclonic jerking in the left quadriceps muscle. Six weeks after onset a small cell carcinoma of the lung became manifest. With radiotherapy and chemotherapy complete remission was achieved. Segmental muscular spasm improved at the same time. Necropsy revealed loss and degeneration of alpha-motor neuron cells at one side of the anterior horn of the lumbar enlargement. This case may represent another manifestation of paraneoplastic subacute motor neuronopathy.

Aged↗