PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E Reichenthal

Publications and source records attributed to E Reichenthal.

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

The surgical control of acute epileptic foci in the cat's cerebral cortex.

Topectomy is the treatment of choice for patients suffering from intractable focal epilepsy not responding to pharmacological treatment. A disadvantage of this method is the neurological deficit produced by excision of functional neurons. For this reason the excision of epileptic foci in vital cortical regions is avoided. Thus patients suffering from intractable focal epilepsy in the motor area do not, as yet, have a satisfactory medical or surgical solution to their problem. The purpose of this work is to suggest a different surgical approach on the basis of new data regarding vertical neural connections in the cortex that are vital to the maintenance of the epileptic foci. This possibility has been investigated so far only in acute animal experiments with the intention of applying this method next in chronic animal experiments and then, if successful, in human beings.

Animals↗

Sensory Jacksonian seizures triggered by a frontally-located meningioma.

A patient who presented with sensory Jacksonian seizures and no other clinical symptoms was found to have a meningioma in the premotor area of the frontal lobe. The possibility that brain oedema caused by the tumour encroached on the supplementary motor area and triggered the seizures via cortico-cortical pathways is discussed.

Aged↗

A critical epileptic area in the cat's cortex and its relation to the cortical columns.

The critical size of active penicillin foci in cat's parietal cortex was determined in two different ways: (a) by gradually enlarging the area of drug application from 0.78 mm2 to 3.14 mm2; (b) by reducing the area of the active penicillin focus, using subpial incisions. Results indicate that a critical area of 0.7 mm2 is necessary. The possibility that in the parietal cortex a single functional column may be the basic generator unit for inter-ictal spikes is discussed. It is concluded that: (a) the size of the critical area is related to the cross-sectional area of a single functional column. This column is not yet determined by parallel anatomical findings; (b) inactivation of a given epileptic focus in the cat's cortex may be achieved by cutting layer III of the focus.

Animals↗

Neurosurgical management of the elderly patient.

The records of 59 patients above the age of 65 operated on for diverse neurosurgical problems between January 1975 and September 1976 were reviewed. It was found that in only about half of the cases was the referral diagnosis correct. Most of the referred patients diagnosed as cerebrovascular accident or senile dementia were found to be suffering from intracranial space-occupying lesions or normal pressure hydrocephalus. Post-operatively there was a significant improvement in 48% of this group of geriatric patients, with no change in 23% and a poor result in 29%. when the data on patients with benign lesions were considered separately, it was found that in this group there was a significant improvement in 60%, with no change in 23% and a poor result in only 17%.

Aged↗