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Biomedical subjects

F Lhermitte

Publications and source records attributed to F Lhermitte.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1976

A study of visual processes in a case of interhemispheric disconnexion.

A 75-year-old right-handed woman, after a probable cerebral infarct, developed an irregular constriction of the visual fields, a left-sided agraphia, and an anomia for objects in the left hand. Subsequent testing demonstrated an inability to name, though ability to recognize, letters and objects flashed in the homonymous left visual field. An inter-hemispheric disconnexion syndrome was inferred from these findings. The present publication concerns mainly the visual aspects of this disconnexion syndrome. Tasks were devised to test the abilities of the major and minor hemisphere: (a) the left hemisphere demonstrated a complete dominance for language expression and an incomplete dominance for written language comprehension; (b) the right hemisphere appeared to be dominant for some visuo-spatial tasks including number comprehension; (c) when the hemispheres were given contradictory visual informations on a non-verbal task (chimeric stimuli) there was a predominance of the right hemisphere. The right hemisphere appeared able to process complex information. Specialization of functional activities in each hemisphere is briefly discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1976

[Amnesiac aphasia. Study of 25 cases].

Twenty-five patients with "amnesic aphasia" were studied. The language difficulty is not related either to intellectual deficit, generalised memory disturbance or visual impairment but is a specific verbal memory defect. Amnesic aphasia also involves lack of perception of linguistic units which is caused by impairment of comprehension and erasure of the acoustico-mnesic traces of words. The responsible lesions are in the left temporal region. The authors maintain that, from the physio-pathological point of view, these lesions do not destroy the cortex and sub-cortex, as in focal necrosis, but cause cortical dysfunction selectively affecting the mnesic traces of words.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Plasma galactocerebrosides in multiple sclerosis.

Plasma cerebrosides were examined in 12 cases of multiple sclerosis which were compared to normal controls and patients with cerebrovascular accidents. A screening was performed so as to select patients with levels above to normal by means of thin-layer chromatography of the lipid extract. Glucose seems to be the only hexose to be found normally in plasma cerebrosides. The presence of galactocerebrosides may be a biological test for demyelination, as their presence seems to be related to the evolutionary state of multiple sclerosis. In a severe cerebrovascular accident, galactocerebrosides were also found.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

[Carotid auscultation. Correlation in 200 patients with 332 angiograms].

1. Results of auscultation of carotid arteries have been reviewed in 200 adults patients with 332 carotid angiograms. Cases with abnormal cardiac bruits of supraclavicular buits were excluded. There was no case with stenosis of the external artery or significant anemia. 2. The present series of patients comprises : 100 with internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis, 50 with ICA occlusion and normal contralateral ICA, 50 with cerebral space-occupying lesions. 3. A bruit was present in 80/132 ICA stenosis (60 per cent), 60/84 ICA stenoses reducing the lumen by more than 75 per cent (71 per cent), 20/48 ICA stenoses reducing the lumen by less than 75 per cent (41 per cent). It appeared likely that the presence of an ICA stenosis plays a role in the presence of a contralateral bruit where a contralateral stenosis or occlusion are present. 4. An ipsilateral bruit was present in 50/50 ICA occlusions. A contralateral bruit was present in 7 patients the ICA angiogram being normal. A bruit was present on both sides in 4 patients and it may be that some patients are somewhat apt to have bruits. 5. There was no bruit in 49 patients with normal carotid angiograms and a cerebral space-occupying lesion. Data from the present series suggest that where both ICA's are normal auscultation is falsely positive in less than 10 per cent of patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

[Rehabilitation of patients with frontal lesions].

Two patients with frontal lesions underwent re-education of the mental processes. The material used was the PM 38 test, WAIS cubes and visuo-spatial problems. The method used was based on Luria's re-education technique supplemented by a process of phasing out the controlling aids and cutting out facts for analysis. Results obtained before and after re-education in responses are described and compared. The problem of reansferring the skill acquired to other activities is discussed. The authors found that skills developed in the re-education situation to cope with a given task are not spontaneously utilised by the patient when he is again placed in a similar situation, but that a simple verbal cue from the tester is sufficient to cause this skill to be transferred. Finally, when faced with a new situation, the patient does not work out how to solve the problem, but he accepts more readily what is suggested to him by the tester.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗
PubMed1975

[Prosopagnosia. Role of the right hemisphere in visual perception. (Apropos of a case after right occipital lobectomy)].

The authors describe a case of prosopagnosia which appeared a month after right occipital lobectomy. Results obtained by means of various tests devised to analyse this perception disorder have produced the following conclusions: 1) results of pairing tests which require a high level of perceptive differentiation are successful but after abnormally long delays; 2) in spite of this success, faces--even the patient's own--are not recognized; 3) this disorder extends to affect every task requiring recognition of the individual nature of a stimulus; 4) this individuality has the peculiarity of being based on visual patterns which it is impossible, or almost impossible, to express verbally; 5) the part played by defective visual representation in the brain is discussed; 6) a posterior lesion of the minor hemisphere is a prerequisite of prosopagnosia; 7) these facts, in conjunction with the findings in cases of inter-hemispheric disconnection lead one to think that the minor hemisphere, in right-handed subjects, plays a major part in the development and treatment of highly differentiated visual patterns which it is impossible, or almost impossible, to express verbally.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

[Elective memory deficiencies and restricted cortical lesions].

60 subjects with restricted cortical lesions, 7 with diffuse cortical disease, 7 with bilateral lesions of the hippocampo-mamillo-thalamic circuit and 36 normal subjects underwent immediate reproduction tests and training tests in the following three categories: audio-verbal, visuo-spatial, gestural. Subjects with lesions of the H.M.T. circuit had normal results in the three immediate reproduction tests and failed in the three training tests. Subjects with diffuse cortical lesions showed pathological results in all the tests. Subjects with restricted cortical lesions showed selective deficiencies in certain tests; there was no systematic connection between failure in the immediate reproduction test and failure in the corresponding training test. The results were analysed having regard to the location of the lesion but also to the symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Determination of anti-DNA and anti-RNA antibodies in serum and CSF by a new counterimmunoelectrophoresis method].

A new quantitative counterimmunoelectrophoresis technique allows the determination of anti-DNA and anti-RNA antibodies in the serum and the unconcentrated CSF. Normal sera (but not normal CSF) presents anti-DNA and anti-RNA antibodies probably of IgG type. Pathological results (elevated serum values and/or presence of anti-nucleic antibodies in CSF) are observed in some neurological diseases especially SSPE, multiple sclerosis and, generally speaking infectious diseases. A very significant correlation exists between the presence of anti-nucleic antibodies in CSF and a local (intrathecal) IgG synthesis. The same correlation is observed with oligoclonal aspect in CSF. In some cases a percentage of anti-nucleic antibodies higher in CSF than in serum may indicate the persistence of an infectious agent inside the central nervous system.

Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[A test of progressive enrichment of visual information (results in 102 patients with cerebral lesions) (author's transl)].

A new test is reported in which probabilistic activity is imposed on the subject in order to identify the visual stimuli presented to him. The test was validated in 109 normal subjects. When applied to 102 patients with focal cerebral lesions it demonstrated that all lesions of the right hemisphere provoked erroneous or delayed responses and that only lesions in the left occipital region produced the same effects.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Anatomo-clinical study of a case of "ophthalmoplegia plus" with analysis of muscular, central nervous, ocular, myocardial, and thyroid lesions].

This study deals with a case of "ophtalmoplegia plus" with histochemistry and electron microscopy of a muscle biopsy and full pathological examination in a 29 year old woman. Ragged-red fibers with abnormal mitochondria, cerebral spongiosis mostly involving white matter, perimacular pigmentary retinopathy and scattered myocardial fibrosis interrupting the Hiss'bundle were found. A goiter with hypersecretion of thyroid hormones and thyroid and ocular muscles changes characteristics of Graves' disease without any hypermetabolism occurred in her late twenties. This could be related to the absence of response from the abnormal mitochondria to the thyroid hormones.

Adult↗