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Biomedical subjects

G Blennow

Publications and source records attributed to G Blennow.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Sleep and wakefulness in normal preadolescent children.

Eighteen healthy children, 9 boys and 9 girls, between 8 and 12 years of age were examined with polygraphic sleep records, multiple sleep latency tests (MSLTs), and measurements of reaction times. Sleep was recorded at home on Oxford Medilog 9 channel cassette tape recorders (Oxford Medical Systems, Abingdon, U.K.) and sleep staging was performed from the screen of the display unit. Two consecutive nights were recorded. MSLT was done in the laboratory. The subjects were given 30 min to fall asleep on four occasions during the day after the last recorded night of sleep. Reaction times were measured repeatedly between each MSLT trial. More slow wave sleep was found in this study compared to others. Also, the first night effect was slight. It is proposed that this is due to the fact that the recordings were performed at home. The initial sleep cycle was incomplete in almost all subjects. A sleep stage with traits of both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM could be seen in this cycle, probably representing an abortive REM period. MSLT confirmed the low daytime sleepiness in healthy preadolescent children. A sleep latency of 10 min or less on two or more sleep trials, or a daily mean sleep latency of less than 20 min, is rarely seen in this age group. The reaction times were within normal limits for the age of the subjects. Nighttime sleep values, daytime sleep latencies, and reaction times were not correlated in these normal-sleeping children.

Arousal↗
PubMed1989

Automatic versus visual EEG sleep staging in preadolescent children.

Ambulant sleep polygrams were obtained from 14 normal subjects (9 boys and 5 girls) and from 3 boys with attention deficit disorder. The children were aged 8-12 years. Two consecutive nights were recorded with an eight-channel electroencephalographic (EEG) tape cassette recorder. The results were analyzed automatically by the Oxford Medilog 9000 Sleep Stager and by visual scoring from the Medilog Display Unit. Twenty-seven nights were analyzed; 7 nights were excluded because of electrode problems or other technical failures. The main sleep stage shifts and the length of sleep cycles as measured from the hypnogram of the automatic printout agreed well with corresponding values from our visual scoring. In the automatic scoring, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep time was shorter and slow wave sleep was longer than in the visual rating. This can be explained partly by specific properties of the EEG in this age group. The Oxford Medilog 9000 sleep stager can be used to survey sleep quality, but the results must be carefully checked visually. In cases of EEG pathology or sleep abnormalities in childhood it is doubtful if any time or labor is saved by using automatic scoring.

Child↗
PubMed1988

A prospective study of postpartum psychoses in a high-risk group. 6. Relationship to birth complications and neonatal abnormality.

Somatic complications of labor and delivery and offspring abnormality were studied in relationship to the development of 24 postpartum psychotic episodes (PPPs) occurring among index women with a history of nonorganic psychosis. The 24 PPP cases were compared with 60 index cases not developing PPPs. Nonsignificant trends were found towards increased rates of induction of labor, fetal distress, instrumental deliveries and offspring abnormality among cases with PPP onset within 3 weeks of delivery. Instrumental delivery was the only complication that tended to have occurred with increased frequency among cases with PPP onset after 3 weeks.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

A prospective study of psychosocial background factors associated with congenital malformations.

Women's life situation and experiences during pregnancy were prospectively studied in relationship to the development of congenital malformations (CMs) in their offspring, within samples of 84 offspring of pregnant index women with a history of nonorganic psychosis and 100 offspring of pregnant control women. Within both samples, offspring CMs were related to more problematic maternal life situations during pregnancy, the common denominator in these problems across samples being difficulties associated with the husband. Little relationship was found between CMs and the woman's own attitude toward the pregnancy or her mental condition during pregnancy. In both groups, total life situational problems and distress were more strongly related to the development of very minor CMs (termed "variants") than to the major, classical CMs.

Congenital Abnormalities↗
PubMed1987

Intrathecal immunoglobulin production and minor motor seizures.

Five infants with idiopathic infantile minor motor seizures had an elevated immunoglobulin G (IgG) index ((cerebrospinal fluid IgG/serum IgG):(cerebrospinal fluid albumin/serum albumin)). The infants had prolonged prodromal symptoms, and bad prognosis. It is suggested that immunological mechanisms may contribute to the pathophysiology in certain cases of infantile spasms.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
PubMed1987

Anterior spinal artery syndrome. Report of seven cases in childhood.

The diagnosis of the anterior spinal artery syndrome can be reached with fair certainly by thorough clinical examination and knowledge of the underlying neuroanatomy. Sudden onset of para- or quadripareses, and dissociated sensory loss are the headmarks. Seven cases are reported who all had this diagnosis. The etiology is discussed with special reference to the possibility of a traumatic origin. The prognosis is variable, in spite of considerable initial impairment restitution in certain cases can be very good. Proposals for investigations are given.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

High dose B6 treatment in infantile spasms.

A total dose of 0.2-0.4 g.kg-1 pyridoxine stopped infantile spasms with hypsarrhythmia in three infants within five to six days. The case histories are presented and the results briefly discussed.

Electroencephalography↗
PubMed1986

Longterm follow-up of ventilator treated low birthweight infants. II. Neurological and psychological outcome at 6-7 years.

Forty-five of 47 low birthweight infants (less than 2.5 kg b.w.) from a 2 1/2-year period surviving after ventilator treatment in the neonatal period were studied. The children were assessed at the age of 6-7 years by neurological examination and Griffith's test. There were 2 children with diplegia, and one with a descrete hemiplegia. Eleven other children had minor motor disturbances. Fifteen children had short attention span. In the Griffith's test 8 had a general quotient below 3; most often because of low scores in the Locomotor scale and the Performance scales. Eight children had minor motor difficulties and short attention span in combination. These eight children together with the three patients with cerebral palsy, another four patients with low Griffith test and one girl with severe retrolental fibroplasia, and one girl with neurogenic hearing reduction could be at risk for later school difficulties (38%). Finally, one boy was successfully shunted for hydrocephalus. The abnormalities found did not correlate with birthweight or duration of ventilator treatment.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Infantile spasms and neuronal heterotopias. A report on six cases.

Six infants with infantile spasms are presented, three primarily considered idiopathic and three symptomatic. Autopsy unexpectedly revealed heterotopias, cortical dyslamination, and other brain malformations in all six cases. No history of any etiologic moment during the neuronal migratory period of early gestation was found. It is concluded that wide-spread disturbances of CNS morphology should always be considered in cases of infantile spasms.

Abnormalities, Multiple↗
PubMed1986

Nephrosis and disturbances of neuronal migration in male siblings--a new hereditary disorder?

Two male siblings (a boy aged 2 years 10 months at death and a male fetus aborted in gestational week 22) showed similar brain and kidney malformations, comprising paraventricular heterotopias, central canal abnormalities (including hydrocephalus in the boy), and glomerular kidney disease with proteinuria. There were no known hereditary diseases in the families of the parents, and there was one healthy sibling of either sex. The malformations thus seem to be hereditary in an autosomal or possibly X linked recessive fashion.

Cerebral Ventricle Neoplasms↗
PubMed1985

Influence of reduced oxygen availability on cerebral metabolic changes during bicuculline-induced seizures in rats.

The objective of the present work was to study cerebral energy metabolism at threshold levels of hypoxia, i.e., degrees of hypoxia that abolish cerebral electrical activity, in the "normal" and in the epileptic brain. Seizures were induced by intravenous bicuculline and cerebral oxygen availability was reduced by a combination of lowered PO2 and reduced blood pressure to give a transformation of the burst suppression pattern to either one with single spikes or overt EEG flattening. Nonepileptic control animals were exposed to degrees of hypoxia that gave either a markedly depressed EEG pattern with sparse slow waves or EEG flattening. Epileptic and nonepileptic groups proved comparable in terms of calculated oxygen availability and cerebral oxygen consumption at the threshold of "transmission failure." At levels of hypoxia that markedly attenuated or completely abolished seizure discharge, the cerebral metabolic changes were more marked than in comparable nonepileptic animals. These changes comprised an imminent severe perturbation of cerebral cortical phosphorylation potential, a pronounced lactic acidosis with a precipitous redox change, and a marked accumulation of ammonia. The more labile energy balance of the epileptic brain may indicate that the "seizure state" either increases cellular energy demands in spite of the electrical silence or reduces the efficiency of ATP production at the prevailing oxygen availability. It is conceivable that energy failure elicited by complicating hypoxia can aggravate or precipitate brain cell damage in epilepsy.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Benign infantile nocturnal myoclonus.

Myoclonic jerks during sleep is a normal phenomenon seen also in infancy. Sometimes the episodes can be extended both in duration and seizure type. When this happens it should be differentiated from epilepsy and treatment is not needed. Five cases are reported.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1983

Influence of systemic factors on experimental epileptic brain injury. Structural changes accompanying bicuculline-induced seizures in rats following manipulations of tissue oxygenation or alpha-tocopherol levels.

A previous study from the laboratory showed that status epilepticus induced by bicuculline administration to ventilated rats produced astrocytic swelling and nerve cell changes ("type 1 and 2 injury") particularly in layers 3 and 5 of the neocortex (Söderfeldt et al. 1981). The type 1 injured neurons were characterized by condensation of cyto- and karyoplasm and the less common type 2 cells were characterized by swelling of endoplasmic reticulum including the nuclear envelope. In the present study we explored whether changes in cerebral oxygen availability altered the extent or character of the cellular alterations. Animals with 2 h of status epilepticus were made either hyperoxic (administration of 100% O2), hypoxic (arterial pO2 50 mm Hg) or hypotensive (arterial blood pressure of either 70-75 or 50 mm Hg). Furthermore, we explored whether "oxidative" damage occurred by manipulating tissue levels of alpha-tocopherol, a known free radical scavenger. Non-epileptic control animals exposed to comparable degrees of hypoxia or hypotension showed no or minimal structural alterations. In the epileptic animals the results were as follows. Hyperoxia did not change the quality or extent of the structural alterations previously observed in normoxic epileptic animals. Neither administration nor deficiency of vitamin E did modify this pattern of alterations. In hypoxia the extent of cell damage was the same or somewhat larger than in normoxic, epileptic animals. In addition, neurons often showed cytoplasmic microvacuoles due to swelling of mitochondria. The hypoxic animals also showed swelling of astrocytic nuclei with clumped chromatin. Changes similar to those observed in hypoxic animals also appeared in moderate hypotension (mean arterial blood pressure 50 mm Hg), whereas mild hypotension (70-75 mm Hg) did not change the character of the tissue injury from that seen in hyperoxic or normoxic epileptic rats. The present results demonstrate that the neuronal cell damage that can be observed when the brain is fixed by perfusion after status epilepticus of 2 h duration is not exaggerated by hyperoxia or vitamin E deficiency nor is it ameliorated by a moderate restriction in cerebral oxygen supply or by vitamin E administration. If anything, hypoxia (or moderate hypotension) appears to increase the extent of damage and it clearly alters its ultrastructural characteristics. However, although the results fail to support the notion that epileptic cell damage is "oxidative", definite conclusions must await information on the cell damage that remains upon arrest of the epileptic activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Offspring of women with nonorganic psychoses. Development of a longitudinal study of children at high risk.

This article describes the development of a prospective, longitudinal study of 88 "high-risk" offspring of pregnant index women with a history of nonorganic psychoses and 104 offspring of demographically-similar pregnant control women. The maternal psychoses represented the diagnostic categories, Schizophrenia, Cycloid Psychosis, Affective Illness, Psychogenic Psychosis, Postpartum Psychosis and Other (remaining) Psychoses. The first phase of the study began during pregnancy and continued until the offspring reached 2 years of age. Selected characteristics of the mothers, the offspring and their environments were investigated during this project phase.

Adult↗