PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J C Marcus

Publications and source records attributed to J C Marcus.

18 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Serum ionized magnesium in post-traumatic headaches.

The objective of this study was to determine the values of serum ionized magnesium, total magnesium, and ionized calcium/ionized magnesium ratios in children with headaches. One hundred thirty-five children with primary complaints of headaches were classified according to the criteria of the International Headache Society. Blood samples were obtained and tested for ionized magnesium (IMg(2+)), total magnesium, ionized calcium (ICa(2+)), and pH. The ICa(2+)/IMg(2+) ratio was calculated. Nine children were given a diagnosis of post-traumatic headache. Six of them had statistically significant (P <.05) lowered IMg(2+) levels and high ICa(2+)/IMg(2+) ratios. Abnormalities in serum IMg(2+) concentrations and ICa(2+)/IMg(2+) ratios were found in children with post-traumatic headaches, but total magnesium levels were normal.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Multiple sclerosis presenting as a single mass lesion.

A 6-year-old male presented with a subacute onset of hemiplegia and a mass lesion on computed tomography scan. Pathology from a surgical biopsy revealed demyelination only. Ten months later, he had a recurrence on the opposite side. A magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed a corresponding mass lesion in the other cerebral hemisphere, allowing the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Consideration should be given to diagnoses other than a tumor when the clinical picture and radiologic features are atypical.

Cerebral Cortex↗
PubMed1998

Serum ionized magnesium in premature and term infants.

Magnesium is the element with the second highest concentration in the body and is found almost entirely in the intracellular compartment. The small serum component gives a poor representation of the active, physiologic state of the metal. This state is assessed much better by measuring ionized magnesium in the serum, which can now be performed with a sensitive ion-selective electrode. This study was undertaken to establish the normal serum ionized magnesium levels in newborn infants and to define normal serum ionized calcium/ionized magnesium ratios. Ninety-seven infants were investigated. Six were born before 32 weeks gestation, 28 between 33 and 37 weeks gestation, and 63 were term. Ionized magnesium levels were 0.69 +/- 0.14 mmol/L, 0.63 +/- 0.10 mmol/L, and 0.57 +/- 0.07 mmol/L in each group, respectively. These findings demonstrate a significant decline in serum ionized magnesium with increasing maturity. This decrease may relate to a greater need for magnesium uptake during earlier gestation, more magnesium-induced vasodilation to maintain adequate blood flow to developing tissues and organs, or immature parathormone function earlier in pregnancy. The progressive rise in serum ionized calcium/ionized magnesium ratios found herein supports the latter hypothesis.

Blood Chemical Analysis↗
PubMed1998

Stopping antiepileptic therapy in mentally-retarded, epileptic children.

It has, increasingly, become the practice to withdraw antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in epileptic patients, who have been seizure-free for two years. However, the presence of mental retardation is frequently considered to be a markedly adverse factor for stopping treatment. Many physicians are loth to phase out AEDs in mentally retarded patients. In this study, 29 well-controlled epileptic, mentally-retarded children had their AEDs withdrawn. Seventeen have remained well and 12 have relapsed. IQ, neurological findings, EEGs, types of epilepsy, frequency of attacks, age of onset, duration of the active disease and the fit-free period, and antiepileptic drug (AED) levels did not predict the outcome. It is suggested that consideration be given to withdrawing AEDs from well-controlled, mentally-retarded, epileptic children.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1996

Neurologic status of human immunodeficiency virus 1-infected infants and their controls: a prospective study from birth to 2 years. Mothers and Infants Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the timing, extent, severity, and persistence of neurologic abnormalities in children with perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infection compared with similar uninfected children of HIV-1-infected women and control children. METHODS: Serial neurologic examinations and head circumference measurements were performed on a cohort of HIV-1-infected children born to HIV-1-infected women, seroreverting children born to HIV-1-infected women, and control children born to uninfected women. Examination data from 32 HIV-1-infected children, 99 reverters, and 116 control children were summarized by eight neurologic domains. Data were analyzed by longitudinal analysis. RESULTS: Reverter children were not different from control children in neurologic function for any of the eight domains or head circumference. HIV-1-infected children had significantly more neurologic problems than the control and reverter children for seven of the eight domains. The HIV-1-infected children were further classified by whether they had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-defining clinical conditions (other than lymphoid interstitial pneumonitis) in the first 24 months of life (the AIDS-opportunistic infection group) or did not (the infected-other group). Neurologic abnormalities were early, severe, pervasive, and persistent in the AIDS-opportunistic infection group, and nearly all in this group had head circumference measurements below the 10th percentile. The infected-other group had no statistically significant differences from the uninfected children, although individual children in the infected-other group had some abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: In utero exposure to HIV-1 without infection seems to have no negative impact on neurologic function in children in the first 2 years of life. Among children with perinatally acquired HIV-1 infection, the most severe and pervasive neurologic problems occur in those children who have early serious HIV-1 clinical disease. Most children without serious AIDS-defining clinical conditions in the first 2 years of life are also free from serious neurologic problems during that period.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1993

Control of epilepsy in a mentally retarded population: lack of correlation with IQ, neurological status, and electroencephalogram.

An investigation of 90 children with mental retardation and epilepsy who were seen at a developmental evaluation clinic was conducted to determine whether control of their epilepsy was related to their level of mental retardation. Their level of retardation, neurological findings, and EEGs were classified and compared with the quality of seizure control. No correlation was found between quality of control and any of these parameters. Results suggest that there is no firm relation between the level of mental retardation and control of epilepsy. It also appears that the neurological status and EEG do not affect quality of seizure control for this group.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Flexor plantar responses in children with upper motor neuron lesions.

The usual plantar response in upper motor neuron lesions is extensor. As flexor responses were seen in a number of children with these lesions, a formal study was undertaken to assess the plantar reflex in affected children. Fifty-seven children with spastic cerebral palsy were examined. Ten had hemiplegias, so a total of 104 limbs were tested. Eighty-four (80.8%) of these had flexor and 12 (11%) had extensor responses. Half (3.9%) of the remaining eight responses were mute and half were variable. While exceptions to the extensor rule are known, this marked predominance of flexor responses is unusual. This may be the result of damage inflicted on the immature nervous system before full connections and myelination have been completed. Further studies, involving children who have sustained brain damage at different ages, will be needed to elucidate the various mechanisms involved.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The spinal accessory nerve in childhood hemiplegia.

Fifteen of 17 children with hemiplegia were found to have weakness of the trapezius muscle but a normally functioning sternocleidomastoid muscle. Very few other cranial nerve-mediated deficits were found. The difference between the two muscles, both supplied by the spinal accessory nerve, may depend on a phylogenetic basis, with the former behaving like an appendicular muscle and the latter like an axial muscle.

Accessory Nerve↗
PubMed1987

Neurological findings in the fetal alcohol syndrome.

Five children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), ranging in age from 2 1/4 to 10 years, were noted to have abnormal neurological findings. These were mainly cerebellar. Others were attention deficit disorder in three, mental retardation in two, and epilepsy in one. The neuropathology seen in FAS provides a more than adequate basis for the clinical findings. Children with FAS, or a history of in utero alcohol exposure, and abnormal neurological signs, do not need investigation.

Brain Diseases↗
PubMed1983

Infective endocarditis due to non-toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae in a child. A case report.

A case of infective endocarditis (IE) in a 5 1/2-year-old boy in whom blood and bone marrow cultures yielded an unusual organism, a non-toxigenic strain of Corynebacterium diphtheriae, is reported. This proved fatal, and at autopsy congenital valvar aortic stenosis was found, but the vegetations occurred on an anatomically normal mitral valve. Organisms such as C. diphtheriae should not be ignored when isolated from blood cultures in suspected cases of IE.

Cardiomegaly↗
PubMed1982

Congenital neurosyphilis: a re-appraisal.

An investigation was undertaken to determine the presence and incidence of neurosyphilis in cases of congenital syphilis. Twenty infants, diagnosed as having congenital syphilis on the basis of a positive serum fluorescent-treponemal-antibody-absorbed immunoglobulin M (FTA-IgM) test, were studied. Eleven had clinical disease, while 3 had non-specific illnesses, but x-rays very suggestive of syphilis. Six were asymptomatic newborns, born of mothers known to have positive VDRL tests. There was no clinical evidence of neurosyphilis. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was definitely abnormal in 2 babies, most likely abnormal in a third, and very doubtfully positive in 2 premature babies. The incidence of neurosyphilis in this series is much lower than that reported in the past. The problems of diagnosing neurosyphilis, and reasons for the low incidence here are discussed.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1980

Folate and mineral metabolism in poorly nourished epileptic children.

Ninety poorly nourished, ambulant, epileptic children, who had been receiving anticonvulsant medications for at least one year, were studied in respect to their folic acid and vitamin D metabolism. Only 11 (12.2%) had borderline or low folate levels. Serum vitamin D levels were low in five (8.9%); serum calcium levels were low in nine (10%); and serum phosphorus levels were low in three (3.3%). Alkaline phosphatase levels were elevated in 19 (21.1%), but whether these arose from bone or liver was ot determined. Height retardation did not correlate with abnormal mineral metabolism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1977

Pyogenic meningitis in chronic gastroenteritis and marasmus.

Pyogenic meningitis occurred in 6 infants in the course of chronic gastroenteritis, in 5 of whom a normal CSF had been recorded earlier in the illness. Clinical signs of meningitis were often absent. The problems of diagnosis and management and of possible predisposition to pneumococcal meningitis in children suffering from chronic gastroenteritis are discussed.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1976

Acute myopathy in three brothers.

Three brothers are reported who presented simultaneously with acute myopathy, which resolved rapidly. Muscle biopsy showed vacuolar degeneration, with no inflammatory changes. An echo virus was grown from the stools of two of them. Their course, together with that of a fourth brother, who had an acute illness with rash, lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly, suggests a possible viral aetiology.

Acute Disease↗