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Biomedical subjects

J Sepcić

Publications and source records attributed to J Sepcić.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Vaginally applied diquat intoxication.

CASE REPORT: We report the case of a woman who introduced 20 mL of diquat concentrate intravaginally. Abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, burning chest pains, and somnolence appeared within the first 24 hours. The vulva and vagina were corrosively inflamed. Acute renal failure appeared on the third day and was treated by 6 hemodialyses over 6 days. The patient was dysarthric with spastic tetraparesis for 3 months. The electroencephalogram, diffusely slow on day 3, was normal on day 28. The electromyoneurogram was normal at all times. Biopsy of a peripheral nerve performed on day 57 following intoxication showed no myelin or axonal alterations.

Administration, Intravaginal↗
PubMed1998

Is there semantic specificity in overlapping-figures agnosia?

A case of apperceptive visual agnosia, revealing difficulties only in the performance on a standard overlapping-figures test, has been studied. Unusually, the patient demonstrated difficulties only with two semantic categories of the overlapped figures (clothes and school accessories); preserving, however, the knowledge of the same figures when presented isolated. We propose that the underlying deficit is only of a pseudo-semantic nature and is actually due to certain similarities of the two overlapping combinations, creating difficulties still on the apperception level only.

Agnosia↗
PubMed1998

On some neurobiological and cultural-anthropological aspects of the contralateral-neglect syndrome.

Contralateral neglect is a frequent clinical syndrome which can be provoked by lesions in several brain areas (primarily inferior parietal and frontal) and includes symptoms of motor and perceptual negligence of both real and imaginative contralateral hemi-space. Attentional and representative theories attempting to explain neglect are presently the most popular. This paper analyzes two cases of neglect patients. Paying attention especially to their reading defects, a possible role of the persons with contralateral neglect is proposed in the development of script. Other neurobiological and cultural-anthropological questions arising from the analysis of these cases are also discussed.

Aged↗
PubMed1997

Increased perforin expression in multiple sclerosis patients during exacerbation of disease in peripheral blood lymphocytes.

The expression of perforin (P) in subpopulations of the PBL of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in stable and active phase of disease was investigated, by simultaneous detection of P (intracellular molecule) and cell surface antigens. A significant increase of CD4+P+ (p < 0.02) and CD16+P+ (p < 0.001), and decrease of CD56+P+ (p < 0.05) cells in active MS was found. In active disease there is a highly significant increase (p < 0.001) of average fluorescence intensity (AFI) for P in CD4(dim+) cells, and these cells are larger in size and have higher granularity (p < 0.05) compared to CD4(bright+) p(dim+) cells. Surprisingly, there were no CD25+P+ cells in either group of MS patients. These results show that CD4+P+ cells are upregulated in active disease in cell number, in the level of P expression per cell, and in the level of cell activation (increase in cell size and granularity). It is suggested that CD4+P+ cytotoxic cells may play a role in the pathogenetic mechanisms of MS.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Nutritional factors and multiple sclerosis in Gorski Kotar, Croatia.

An analysis was made of the possible influence of nutritional factors on the etiology of multiple sclerosis in Gorski Kotar (Croatia), a high-risk zone for this disease. A total of 46 MS patients and 92 controls, native-born residents of the area studied, participated in a case-control study. The questionnaire comprised 51 questions concerning dietary habits. An odds ratio (OR) estimate was obtained for all the factors which were more frequently found in the patients than in the controls. Large differences were found in the daily consumption of different quantities of full fat unskimmed milk (OR 21.7; chi 2 42.34; LL 7.12), potatoes with lard and fresh or smoked meat (OR 20.7; chi 2 15.52; LL 2.72), and new potatoes (OR 20.7; chi 2 15.52; LL 2.72). The consumption of unpasteurized milk, animal fat, smoked meat and potatoes are nutritional risk factors which could have an influence on the severity of primary demyelinization in a high-risk area for multiple sclerosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Locked-in syndrome.

A patient, young fisherman, with a locked-in syndrome is reported, in whom intact consciousness, quadriplegia of spastic type, voluntary eye blinking, (de)sursumvergence and anarthria were observed. Thrombosis of the basilar artery and slightly disturbed bioelectrogenesis of the cerebral cortex were proved by clinical examination. The patient died after 41 days. At the autopsy thrombosis a. basilaris and ventrobasal pontine infarction were confirmed. Differential diagnosis of this and similar syndromes has been discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Immunological observations in Guillain-Barré syndrome.

The results of some immunological analyses in 12 patients with the acute Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) are presented. The mean cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of IgG and IgA were significantly increased. A longitudinal study of CSF IgG concentrations in 5 patients shows that the recovery period of the disease is not regularly accompanied by a decline of the IgG level. The finding of significantly reduced percentages of active T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with the acute GBS in comparison with the controls supports the view of the cellular immunity role in the pathogenesis of the disease. With the exception of HLA--B5 and HLA--B15, no other individual antigen was significantly more present in either the cases or controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Epidemiology of Huntington's disease in Rijeka district, Yugoslavia.

Epidemiologic study of Huntington's disease (HD) in the Rijeka district represents the first research of its kind carried out in Yugoslavia. After a detailed investigation of all available sources of health information, ten families, with a total number of 24 HD patients, were found. The prevalence rate of HD on March 31, 1981, was 4.46/100,000 population. Most of the patients involved were members from the second or third familial generation. The age at recognition of disease was 41.6 years, with earlier onset among the males. Involuntary movements frequently appeared as the initial symptomatology (45.8%). Duration of the disease from initial symptomatology to death averaged at 10.6 years. Six of nine patients who died had committed suicide. It took physicians of primary care, neurologists, and psychiatrists 5.3 years (1-12 years) to make a definite diagnosis. Nine of the affected families from Rijeka district were autochthonic households. Six of these families immigrated from Saxony, Slovakia and Upper Carinthia during the reign of the Habsburg dynasty (1619-1780).

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Multiple sclerosis in Istria, Yugoslavia.

An epidemiological research of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Istria, Yugoslavia, was made in the period of 1980-1981. After examining all the sources of health care information, 125 potential MS patients were found in the investigated area. According to the diagnostic criteria by Schumacher et al., 47 affected were recognized and accepted as clinically definite MS patients. The MS prevalence rate in Istria on March 31st, 1981 amounted to 25.0/10(5) inhabitants (CI: 19.9-38.9). Such rates classify Istria in the middle between the medium and high risk zones for the disease in Europe and in the world. The onset age of MS in Istria was about 30 years, the female/male sex ratio was 2.13. The average duration of MS in Istria up to the prevalence day was 16.5 years. The average annual incidence rate was 1.5/10(5) inhabitants.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Lymphocyte subpopulations in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of multiple sclerosis patients in active disease.

Lymphocyte subpopulations (total T cells, active T cells and B cells) were simultaneously analyzed in peripheral blood and CSF of MS patients. All patients were in active disease, 3 to 4 weeks after first signs of disease activation appeared. Per cent levels and absolute numbers of examined lymphocyte subpopulations in the blood of MS patients were significantly lower than in healthy controls. In MS, the level of active T lymphocytes was lower in CSF than in peripheral blood. The results support our earlier observations relating to the role of active T lymphocytes in the clinical course of disease.

Adult↗