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Biomedical subjects

J M Ferro

Publications and source records attributed to J M Ferro.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Transient global amnesia. A case control study.

A case control study of transient global amnesia (TGA), transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) and normal controls is described. Each of the 51 TGA patients, selected between January 1985 and March 1990, was compared with four controls (two TIAs and two normals) for the presence of vascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes, smoking habits, cholesterol, triglycerides and haematocrit levels, heart disease, previous stroke), previous TGA, migraine, psychiatric illness and recent head trauma. Patients with TGA had less diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and hypertriglyceridaemia than TIA. TGA subjects had significantly more hypertension (odds ratio = 3.31) and migraine (odds ratio = 8.67) than normal controls. During a mean of 17.4 mths of follow-up (range 1-96 mths), three subjects had recurrent TGA, one sustained a TIA and a minor stroke, but none had seizures. Thrombo-embolism and epilepsy are unlikely to be the cause of this benign disorder. The role is stressed of appropriate precipitants, including haemodynamic changes, and of individual susceptibility (of which migraine is probably a marker) in the genesis of TGA.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Neurologic manifestations of Behçet disease. Review of the caseload of the Neurology and Dermatology services at the Santa Maria Hospital].

Neurological involvement in a series of patients with Behçet's disease, evaluated at the Departments of Neurology and Dermatology, St. Maria Hospital is reported. Meningoencephalytic or encephalytic were the most common clinical forms, while headache, cerebellar and pyramidal signs were the most prevalent symptoms/signs. On follow-up (range 2-13 years) the majority of the patients had either a progressive or a remitting-progressive course. Magnetic ressonance imaging was the most valuable method of detecting central nervous system lesions.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Comas in the emergency room of a central hospital].

The aim of the present prospective work was to study the etiologic diagnosis and prognosis of the comatose patients for whom a neurologic examination is requested. It included 148 consecutive cases admitted to the emergency room of a general hospital. Coma was caused by supratentorial lesions in 38%, subtentorial lesions in 10%, diffuse or metabolic brain dysfunction in 49%, and psychiatric disorder in 1% of the patients. CT scan was the most valuable ancillary exam, modifying the initial etiologic diagnosis in 42% of the cases on whom it was performed. Seventy percent of the patients died. Coma caused by structural lesions had a worse outcome than coma caused by diffuse or metabolic brain dysfunction (intoxications excluded), and this type of coma had a worse outcome than drug-induced coma. The presence of anisocoria, the number of brainstem reflexes present and the pattern of motor response, as well as the Glasgow Coma Scale score, predicted the outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Perimesencephalic hemorrhage].

Among 293 subarachnoid hemorrhages admitted to the Neurology and Neurosurgery departments of Sta Maria Hospital, 108 patients had a normal cerebral angiography. Twenty-three meet the radiological criteria for perimesencephalic hemorrhage (center of the hemorrhage located in front of the mesencephalon, without blood in the interhemispheric and lateral sylvian fissures, nor significant intraventricular hemorrhage). The clinical picture was one of sudden, severe headache with meningeal signs, without focal signs or decreased alertness. Evolution was benign: there was no intrahospital mortality, morbidity or rebleeds on follow-up (3.5 years). In this subgroup of subarachnoid hemorrhage there is no need for a repeated angiogram if the first angiography is considered normal.

Female↗
PubMed1990

Mesencephalic haematoma: case report with autopsy study.

A 70-year-old hypertensive woman suffered sudden onset of bilateral blepharoptosis. Within a few hours she developed focal signs attributable to a lesion of the mesencephalon, and a stuporous state, from which she did not recover. Neuropathological examination showed a mesencephalic haematoma, but no arteriovenous malformation. A review of reported cases suggests that mesencephalic haematomas have a worse prognosis when they occur in aged hypertensive patients, as compared with younger normotensive patients, in whom they are probably related to arteriovenous malformations.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Kluver-Bucy syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus.

The Kluver-Bucy syndrome has not been previously reported as a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A 48-year-old female is described who sustained several cerebral infarcts, some of which were bitemporal, due to SLE vasculopathy. She developed a complex behavioural picture consisting of global aphasia, left-side neglect, hyperorality, hypermetamorphosis and hypersexuality. She displayed appropriate emotional reaction to visually presented objects, indicating that her Kluver-Bucy syndrome could not be explained by lack of visual recognition.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1989

Atypical facial pain, ectasia of the basilar artery, and baclofen: a case report.

Atypical facial pain is a clinical syndrome of facial pain that has been related to depression but whose pathogenesis is not known. We describe a 72-year-old woman with a chronic facial pain, and ectasia and left sided deviation of the basilar artery, that responded dramatically to baclofen. This case suggests that vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve may be one of the mechanisms producing this syndrome and in these cases it might respond to baclofen.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

Egas Moniz and internal carotid occlusion.

Egas Moniz discovered cerebral angiography in 1927 and introduced leukotomy as a form of treatment of mental illness, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1949. His work on occlusive cerebrovascular disease is less known. In 1937 he originally described internal carotid occlusion as documented by angiography. His observations and comments on the clinical, pathogenic, and therapeutic aspects of internal carotid thrombosis are reviewed.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Young adult stroke: neuropsychological dysfunction and recovery.

Etiology, neuropsychological deficits, aphasia type, and recovery were retrospectively studied in 254 young adults with stroke. Cardiac embolism was the most common cause of stroke in patients younger than 40, while atherosclerosis was the most frequent etiology among those aged 41-50 years. In 166 aphasic patients, Broca's aphasia was the most common while Wernicke's and transcortical aphasias were rare. Compared with an older aphasic population, young patients had significantly more nonfluent aphasias and fewer comprehension deficits. These differences were related to stroke localization: the majority of infarcts localized by computed tomography in 37 patients involved either the entire middle cerebral artery territory or its superior or deep branches, explaining the preponderance of nonfluent aphasia. Prognosis of aphasia in our patients was better than has been reported for non-age-selected aphasia populations. Roughly one third of our patients recovered completely, one third improved, and one third had an unresolved language deficit. Complete recovery and significant improvement were observed even greater than 6 months after stroke. In some patients, recovery was much better than might have been predicted from lesion site and size depicted on computed tomograms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Comparative classification of aphasic disorders.

This study compares aphasia classification of 20 aphasics who were evaluated with the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) and the Lisbon Aphasia Examination Battery (LAEB). High correlations were found between tests evaluating the same functions in both batteries. Aphasia types derived from these two batteries showed only a partial overlap. This was due to the use of different numerical diagnostic criteria. When these criteria were used to specify aphasia types of 179 acute and 113 chronic aphasics grouped by cluster analysis, similar discrepancies were noted. Two major differences were found: some LAEB global aphasics turned out to be WAB Broca's and some LAEB anomics were classified as WAB conduction aphasics. These disagreements reflect difficulties in delimiting Broca's and conduction aphasia. The importance of the numerical approach to aphasia classification is stressed, as it is a reliable method to classify aphasic patients in order to allow comparison of data from different centers.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Acquired crossed aphasia in a child.

A case is reported of acquired aphasia in a 15-year-old right-handed boy, secondary to a right occipitotemporal tumour. He had aphasia, alexia, agraphia and visuospatial disturbances, which persisted after partial removal of the neoplasm. 15 days after surgery he had an episode of left focal seizures, after which the aphasia worsened. One month later he developed severe (global) aphasia associated with rostral extension of the tumour. Although crossed aphasia was previously considered common in children, there are few reports with anatomical confirmation. In the authors' own series of 31 children with acquired aphasia this is the only case of crossed aphasia, an incidence similar to that found in adult cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Acquired conduction aphasia in a child.

An 11-year old girl is described who acquired conduction aphasia after head trauma. Detailed study of her repetition defect showed that it was because of impaired short-term verbal memory. CT scan showed two hypodense areas in the left hemisphere, which included the supramarginal gyrus and Wernicke's area. This case is similar to adults with conduction aphasia, indicating the early intrahemispheric specialisation for verbal functions, in this case auditory verbal short-term memory.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1976

Brain specialization for language does not depend on literacy.

Aphasia in focal brain-damaged illiterates is analogous to aphasia in patients who have learned how to read and write, regarding (1) expectancy rate, (2) distribution of clinical types, (3) semiological structure, and (4) score of relevant laboratory variables. The organization of neurological structures whose lesions produce language disturbances seems to be independent from the acquisition of reading and writing skills.

Adult↗