Biomedical subjects

H Høgenhaven

Publications and source records attributed to H Høgenhaven.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1991

[3-year experiences with surgical treatment of epilepsy at the Hvidovre hospital].

The results of a retrospective survey of 48 patients submitted to neurosurgery for medically intractable epilepsy are presented. Twenty-eight patients were treated with selective amygdalohippocampectomy, one with temporal lobe resection, 12 with anterior callosotomy and seven with a total callosotomy. Of the amygdalohippocampectomized patients and the one with temporal lobe resection (n = 29), 52% were seizure free, 17% experienced rare seizures, 7% had a worthwhile improvement while 24% observed no worthwhile improvement (follow-up time 6 to 36 months). Of the callosotomized patients, 11% were free from generalized seizures, 69% had a significant seizure reduction and 18% experienced no worthwhile improvement. The observed neurological complications were: one patient had hemianopia, one had superior quadrant anopia, four developed unilateral anosmia and one complete anosmia. The callosotomized patients, with two exceptions, were all mentally and physically handicapped. In the callosotomy group, two patients died, one from a intracerebral hematoma three months after the operation and another patient seven months postoperatively from unknown causes.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Personality characteristics and epilepsy.

Patients with a long history of temporal lobe epilepsy or primary generalized epilepsy entered a questionnaire study of personality characteristics, based on a modification of the Bear-Fedio inventory for temporal lobe behavioural syndrome. Psoriasis patients and healthy volunteers served as controls. Four clinical meaningful dimensions of included personality traits were identified: ixoide, ideational, obsessive-compulsive and affective features. Analyses based on the Rasch model approved of all dimensions except for affective features. The epilepsy group obtained the highest scores on all 3 dimensions, healthy volunteers the lowest, while the psoriasis group repeatedly held an intermediate position in all sets of assessment (subjects, interviewers and relatives). A logistic regression analysis showed ixoide features being most important when the entire epilepsy group was compared with other study groups, while the dimension ideational features was significant when the temporal lobe epilepsy group was entered as target group and opposed to primary generalized epilepsy. The intermediate position of the psoriasis group, however, suggests that in addition to the presence of a cerebral dysfunction in the epilepsy group, the mere presence of a chronic disorder with potential social stigmatization influences personality.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Ego functions in epilepsy.

Two groups of epilepsy patients (28 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and 15 patients with primary generalized epilepsy) entered a study of personality traits related to epilepsy, based on a modification of Bellak's semistructured interview for assessment of ego strength. Two groups of subjects served as controls: 15 patients with a non-neurological but relapsing disorder, psoriasis, and 15 healthy volunteers. Compared with the group of healthy volunteers, a decreased adaptive level of ego functioning was found in the epilepsy groups, regardless of seizure types and EEG findings, and, to a lesser extent, compared with the psoriasis group. Areas of ego functioning most affected were "reality testing", "cognitive functioning", "integrative functioning" and "regulation and control of drives". Patients with more than one type of seizure were the most affected, as were patients who were younger than 15 years when the disease began. The number of anticonvulsants administered did not influence the results. No difference on adaptive level of ego functioning was found between the group with primary generalized epilepsy and the group with temporal lobe epilepsy. Similarly, the temporal lobe epilepsy group with predominantly right-sided and left-sided EEG changes, respectively, showed similar adaptive levels of ego functioning.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Motor unit firing intervals and other parameters of electrical activity in normal and pathological muscle.

The analysis of the firing intervals of motor units has been suggested as a diagnostic tool in patients with neuromuscular disorders. Part of the increase in number of turns seen in patients with myopathy could be secondary to the decrease in motor unit firing intervals at threshold force of the motor units, as noted in previous studies. In the brachial biceps muscle we have studied the firing intervals of 164 motor units in 14 controls, 140 motor units in 13 patients with myopathy and 86 motor units in 8 patients with neurogenic disorders, and related the findings to those of the turns analysis and the analysis of properties of individual motor unit potentials. To ensure comparable conditions we have examined motor unit firing intervals and turns at a force of 10% of maximum. The average of motor unit firing intervals and of interval variability was the same in controls and in patients, and the diagnostic yield of the motor unit firing intervals analysis was none. Although the number of turns increased with decreasing motor unit firing intervals, this relation was physiological rather than pathophysiological. In patients with neurogenic disorders, interval variability indicated unstable firing in severely affected muscles.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed1987

Epilepsy after stroke.

Development of epilepsy was studied prospectively in a group of 77 consecutive stroke patients. Included were stroke patients less than 75 years old admitted within the first 3 days after the stroke. Excluded were patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage, vertebrobasilar stroke, and patients with other severe diseases. Cerebral angiography, CT, and EEG were performed in all patients. The patients were followed clinically for 2 to 4 years. Seven patients (9%) developed epilepsy. Of 23 patients with lesions involving the cortex, 6 (26%) developed epilepsy. Of 54 patients in whom the cortex was not involved, only 1 (2%) developed epilepsy. Patients with persisting paresis and cortical involvement seem to be at particularly high risk of developing epilepsy, as 50% of such patients (6 of 12) developed the disease.

Adult↗