Biomedical subjects

H A Souza

Publications and source records attributed to H A Souza.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Stereotactic subthalamic nucleus lesioning for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of unilateral STN lesioning in 23 patients with PD. L-Dopa intake and dyskinesia, Hoehn & Yahr, Schwab & England, and UPDRS motor scores were recorded pre- and postoperatively. Stereotactic MRI and CT and macrostimulation were used to establish target coordinates. A single RF lesion was performed. All patients underwent postoperative MRI. Contralateral tremor arrest and decrease of rigidity and bradykinesia should be regarded as hallmarks to STN stimulation. All recorded parameters were significantly improved after a mean follow-up of 13.5 months. Patients with STN lateral territory lesioning (alpha <0.05), younger than 61 years and with a duration of the disease between 6 and 9 years (alpha >0.05) did better than the others. The recurrence rate was 10%. Two patients developed dyskinesias which were completely resolved by a Vim/VOp lesion. Other significant complications were rare. The authors conclude that unilateral STN lesioning is a safe and very effective procedure to treat PD.

Antiparkinson Agents↗

PubMed2001

SPECT-based tailoring of psychosurgical procedures: is it possible?

In contrast to the other areas of functional neurosurgery, psychosurgery has remained basically empiric and unchanged since the seventies, except for the recent suggestion to use chronic stimulation instead of ablative surgery. In this study, the authors investigated the value of SPECT abnormalities to guide psychosurgery and correlated the surgical results with the postoperative SPECT. This new approach, SPECT-based tailored psychosurgery, was applied in 4 of 11 patients referred for surgery, who fulfilled the inclusion criteria adopted. Excellent results were obtained in all of them after a follow-up of 30-52 months. Postoperative SPECT normalized in every case. We conclude, based on this small series, that it is possible to individualize and lateralize (tailor) psychosurgical procedures for every patient and that, to achieve this goal, SPECT is a rather impressive means and that postoperative SPECT closely correlated with the surgical results.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Characterization of a divergent vanD-type resistance element from the first glycopeptide-resistant strain of Enterococcus faecium isolated in Brazil.

Enterococcus faecium 10/96A from Brazil was resistant to vancomycin (MIC, 256 microg/ml) but gave no amplification products with primers specific for known van genotypes. A 2,368-bp fragment of a van cluster contained one open reading frame encoding a peptide with 83% amino acid identity to VanH(D), and a second encoding a D-alanine-D-lactate ligase with 83 to 85% identity to VanD. The divergent glycopeptide resistance phenotype was designated VanD4.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

[Treatment of neurocysticercosis with praziquantel].

Twenty seven patients with neurocysticercosis were treated with praziquantel in progressive doses reaching 50 mg/kg/day associated with dexamethasone for 21 days. The patients were followed during and after treatment and those followed up for one year repeated their immunological tests (indirect immunofluorescence and ELISA) at this time. Headache was the most frequent symptom during the treatment, occurring on 37% of patients. During the treatment 18.5% of patients had intracranial hypertension and one died. One year after treatment 72.2% of patients who finished treatment improved. The immunological tests became negative in 45.4% of patients sera and 42.8% of cerebrospinal fluids. There was no correlation between the clinical evolution and immunological tests. In this study it is not possible to affirm that both negative immunological tests and good clinical evolution were consequent to the efficacy of praziquantel treatment. Due to the great frequency and seriousness of this treatment complications, the patients with neurocysticercosis must be individually evaluated to know the risks and the benefits of the treatment with praziquantel.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis].

A four years-old boy with Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis was surgically treated at the Pediatric Surgery Unit of the Santa Casa de Misericórdia of Maceió. Comments are made upon pathology, pre-operative diagnostic difficulties, differential diagnosis, and the rare occurrence in children.

English Abstract↗