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K Kohlmeyer

Publications and source records attributed to K Kohlmeyer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Neurological disorders in 166 patients with basal ganglia calcification: a statistical evaluation.

Patients investigated at our institute during the last decade included 166 (1.2%) who showed uni- or bilateral basal ganglia calcification on computed tomography. We tested the significance of this neuroradiological observation by statistical comparison of these patients' clinical disorders with the findings in a random sample of 622 patients without basal ganglia calcification. The odds for the most common neurological disturbances were similar in patients with and without basal ganglia calcification. After adjustment for differences in age and brain atrophy there was no evidence of a significantly increased risk of dementia (odds ratio 1.1), cerebral infarction (1.4), epilepsy (0.9), vertigo (1.6), headache (1.8), or alcoholism (0.9), which represented the most common diagnoses. We conclude that basal ganglia calcification cannot be considered as a clinically relevant neuroradiological finding in the majority of cases and that it should not be used as an explanation for frequently observed neurological disturbances.

Basal Ganglia Diseases↗
PubMed1991

What is the psychiatric significance of bilateral basal ganglia mineralization?

One percent (143) of patients who underwent cranial computed tomography at the Central Institute of Mental Health during the last 10 years had bilateral basal ganglia mineralization (BGM). The relationship of this finding to the psychiatric disorders in the group was evaluated by statistical comparison with a group of patients without BGM (control group). The odds ratios for affective disorders and for organic brain syndromes with affective or paranoid symptoms showed a mild, but statistically significant, increase in patients with BGM. There was no evidence of an increased proportion of dementia, schizophrenia, or alcoholism in those with BGM. Those with BGM had a higher mean age and significantly more cortical atrophy and ventricular enlargement than did patients without. These confounding variables contributed to clinical differences between the BGM and the control groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Problems in CT diagnosis of the aging brain].

The different methods of measuring the intracranial CSF spaces on CT images are described. The values obtained are demonstrated to separate the normal aging brain from the brain in senile dementia of Alzheimer's type. The CT criteria for the diagnosis of multi-infarct dementia are shown. The significance of CT studies in senile depression is discussed. The problem of vascular encephalopathy (leuko-araiosis) in normal aging of the brain and in dementia is considered in particular, and even the occurrence of intracranial space-occupying lesions and normal pressure hydrocephalus, as treatable causes of dementia and depression, are mentioned. The data and results of my own CT research on normal brain aging, dementia and depression are presented with reference to the literature.

Aged↗
PubMed1988

CT scans and neuroleptic response in schizophrenia: a multidimensional approach.

Structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia have been reported in a number of studies using computed tomography (CT). However, the prevalence and the localization of the abnormalities vary widely among studies. These discrepancies might stem from clinical and demographic differences among samples, from the choice of the CT parameters, or from the use of different criteria to define abnormalities. In an attempt to overcome these difficulties, we studied 12 CT parameters in 30 schizophrenic patients and 30 sex- and age-matched controls, and evaluated the data simultaneously through multidimensional scaling (MDS). MDS offers a graphic representation in which subtle deviations in the different CT parameters can be detected, independently of predetermined criteria for the definition of abnormalities. MDS distinguished 13 patients from the controls as having deviant values in one or more CT parameters. Five of these patients were first-onset schizophrenics. Patients with deviant CT parameters showed significantly poorer response to haloperidol therapy over 3 weeks than did patients without deviant CT parameters. Our results suggest that the MDS approach might be useful in identifying more precisely patients with and without structural brain abnormalities.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[Periventricular attenuation of the density of cerebral hemisphere white matter in computerized tomography of neuropsychiatric patients in the 2d half of life. Diagnostic significance and pathogenesis].

The images of cranial computed tomographies on 7.921 patients aging between 50 and 98 years were analyzed retrospectively concerning the occurrence of WMLA. 3.344 patients were suffering from psychogeriatric disorders (organic brain syndrome, dementia, depressive or delusional psychoses). Neurological diagnoses (stroke, TIA, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, space occupying lesions, seizures, cerebral trauma, vertigo, chronic headache) occurred in 4.577 patients. WMLA was established in 761 cases. The combination of WMLA with cerebral atrophies, with single or multiple infarcts and with both infarcts and atrophy will be demonstrated within 4 groups: 1. organic brain syndrome and dementia, 2. depression and delusional states, 3. stroke and TIA, 4. other neurological diagnoses. In group one the combination of WMLA with atrophy and infarcts is the most common finding in CT. In group two WMLA without atrophies and infarcts are the main tissue changes in CT. Group three is marked mainly by the occurrence of recent infarcts together with WMLA. In group four again WMLA only, in some cases together with multiple infarcts, do occur mainly. Compared to the cases without WMLA in each group WMLA is seen in cases with organic brain syndromes and dementias three to five times more than in the other diagnostic groups. WMLA in computed tomography seems to be a common finding in patients and healthy individuals of old age. Therefore the diagnostic and differential diagnostic significance for brain diseases in old age is limited. Nevertheless in the field of psychogeriatric disorders it may be possess a certain value to understand the nature of such diseases. This value will be discussed and demonstrated considering the pathogenesis of WMLA on the basis of neuropathological results.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

Investigation of the cerebrospinal fluid circulation by CT contrast cisternography in patients with psychiatric diseases.

In 52 out of 4,400 patients with psychiatric diagnoses referred for a computed tomography (CT) examination a communicating hydrocephalus was suggested on the basis of the conventional CT scan. These 52 cases were investigated with CT contrast cisternography. A disturbed cerebrospinal fluid circulation leading to a reflux of contrast medium into the lateral ventricles, visible for up to 24 hours, and no uptake of contrast medium in the sulci of the convexity of the hemispheres, was detected in 45 of the 52 patients. The clinical effects of shunting in 26 cases are demonstrated. The value of cerebral blood flow studies in such cases is also discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Computed tomography in chronic alcoholism.

A series of 327 chronic alcoholics was studied by computed tomography (CT) and compared with 419 age-matched controls. The inner and outer CSF spaces of the brain were measured in the two groups. The values obtained were tested by a stepwise discriminant analysis. On this basis the following six parameters proved to be the best signs for distinguishing chronic alcoholics from non-alcoholics: the widths of the third ventricle, of the cistern of the quadrigeminal plate, of the interhemispheric fissure, and of the parietal and temporal sulci, the Huckman number, and the presence or absence of cerebellar atrophy.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

123I-N-isopropyl-amphetamine single photon emission computed tomography as a brain imaging technique in dementia.

Because of its binding to specific cerebral amine receptor sites 123I-N-isopropyl-amphetamine (IMP) tracer activity can be used as a measure for the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the human brain. In 21 psychiatric in-patients an IMP perfusion study was performed using a rotating gamma camera system. The findings at single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were compared with different clinical parameters including conventional transmission computed tomography. In SPECT, two different patterns of decrease in IMP uptake could be identified. In patients with a history of cerebrovascular disease SPECT showed asymmetrical, multifocal microcirculatory defects without preference for either hemisphere. In patients with suggested Alzheimer type dementia the perfusion deficits involved the gray and white matter of the parieto-occipital lobes in a bilaterally symmetrical mode with variable extension. Thus, by using IMP-SPECT, it was possible to define the underlying pathologic condition in dementia.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

[Computer tomography, electroencephalography and neurologic findings in child and adolescent psychiatric syndromes].

Computed tomographic brain scan (CT) findings in 239 inpatients seen at a child psychiatry unit were rated in terms of type, location, and severity of brain damage. The rate of abnormalities found was 42%, which is consistent with the figures reported in the literature. There was only a small overlap between abnormal CT findings and abnormal findings in the electroencephalographic (EEG) or neurological examinations. Although abnormal CT findings were more frequent in children with certain diagnoses, i.e. those with psychoses or anorexia nervosa, no CT findings were characteristic of any group, thus indicating a quantitative rather than a qualitative difference. The fact that there was little overlap between CT scans and EEG or neurological findings suggests the need for more studies on diagnosing brain damage and on the relationship of brain damage to psychiatric symptoms.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

[Myelography with metrizamide (author's transl)].

Metrizamide is a non-ionised, water soluble, and completely absorbable contrast medium which can be used to demonstrate all sections of the spinal canal. The previous strict separation between water soluble, ionised media for the lumbal canal and oily media for the lumbosacral junction as well as the thoracic and cervical canal is no longer necessary. Experience in 110 patients shows that if a suitable concentration is chosen all segments of the spinal canal can be adequately investigated using the lumbal route. The application of contrast media via a lateral cervical entry or suboccipital puncture was not necessary in a single case. Side effects in the form of adhesive arachnoiditis were not observed.

Arachnoiditis↗
PubMed1979

[A comparison of cerebral angiography and computer tomography in patients with strokes (author's transl].

The computer tomographic findings in 230 patients with a clinical diagnosis of strokes or cerebral infarcts are described. In 185 of these patients cerebral angiography was performed in addition. The size and localisation of infarcts as shown on the computer tomogram were compared with the changes found in the carotid angiogram and were also related to the localisation of occlusion or stenosis of the corresponding extra- and intracranial vessels. In the presence of a normal carotid angiogram, CT may show infarcts of varying localisation and size; with stenoses or occlusion of the extracranial portion of the internal carotid artery, the infarcts tend to be smaller and that, in the presence of occulsions of the intracranial cerebral vessels, infarcts tend to be more extensive and to correspond to the territory supplied by the occluded vessels. Twenty-eight intracerebral haematomas and nine cerebral tumours were found amongst patients who presented as cerebral infarcts, with little evidence of massive cerebral bleeding; these are discussed separately.

Adolescent↗