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Biomedical subjects

L A Bacheschi

Publications and source records attributed to L A Bacheschi.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulins in cysticercosis of the central nervous system.

Investigation on the behavior of immunoglobulins IGG, IGA and IGM in the CSF in cases of cysticercosis of the CNS, based on data pertaining to two different series of cases. The first series comprises 30 samples of CSF, and the second one, 5 samples. It was demonstrated that IGG is the one representing the largest contingent. IGG concentration keeps in proportion with the gamma globulin concentration, of which it represented an 88% average in the cases studied. Participation of IGG in the protein profile of the CSF is greater than the usually referred; the results for the material analyzed showed 16%. It was verified a proporcionality also between IGG concentration and the titer of positive complement fixation test for cysticercosis; there is a positive correlation, whose numerical expression was found to be significant in the samples studied.

Brain Diseases↗

Neurological examination in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Recent studies suggest the occurrence of a neurological dysfunction in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The purpose of the present study was to verify the clinical value of a neurological evaluation in patients with the disease. We submitted 15 patients with OCD (five of whom were under clomipramine) and 15 controls in a detailed neurological examination, including assessment of the neurological soft-signs. Eleven patients (73.3 percent) and four controls (26.7 percent) presented abnormalities on examination. The main findings among the patients were: palmomental reflex (six cases); mirror movements (five cases); agraphestesia and dysdiadochokinesia (three cases). Three out of the four patients who had a normal examination were on clomipramine. Palmomental reflex was the main finding among the controls. These results, although preliminary, stress the interest and usefulness of performing a detailed neurological examination in OCD.

Adolescent↗

Wilson's disease: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with clinical correlations in 16 cases.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate MRI findings in a group of patients with Wilson's disease, trying to establish possible correlations between clinical and image data. Sixteen patients (8 males and 8 females), with ages ranging from 11 to 50 years, and duration of illness ranging from 5 months to 32 years, were submitted to MRI in a 1.5T System. Four patients were asymptomatic, 4 had mild neurological findings, 2 were moderately affected and the remaining 6 had a severe form of the disease. All patients were receiving D-penicillamine by the time of the study. The most symptomatic patients presented five or more sites of abnormalities on MRI. The putamen was affected in all symptomatic individuals and one asymptomatic and 11 of them presented dystonia on neurological examination. A striking feature was the peripheral localization of putaminal hyperintense lesions on T2 weighted images. In eight cases, striatum or "substantia nigra" lesions explained parkinsonism observed on neurological examination. MRI seems to be an efficient method to study neurological involvement of Wilson's disease allowing some interesting anatomo-clinical correlations.

Adolescent↗

[Paracoccidioidomycosis of the central nervous system: study of 5 cases by magnetic resonance].

Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic mycosis, endemic in South and Central America, that affects the central nervous system in almost 10% of the cases. Neurological involvement includes to different clinical forms: meningeal and granulomatous form, also known as pseudotummoral form. Five patients with intracranial paracoccidioidomycosis were submitted to MR examination in a 1.5T system. All patients presented multiple round or lobulated lesions, hyperintense in T1-weighted images and predominantly hypointese in T2-weighted images. The lesions were distributed diffusely, with a slight predominance in the supratentorial compartment, although infratentorial lesions were also observed, mainly in the cerebellum. All lesions had ring or nodular contrast enhancement. Three patients were reexamined for treatment control, with disappearance of the lesions in two, with persistence of hypointense area in T2-weighted images. MR imaging proves to be a good method to evaluate the neurological involvement in paracoccidioidomycosis, mainly due to its high sensitivity for posterior fossa lesions. Further studies are needed to correlate the MR findings and the changes found in MR examination after treatment.

Adult↗

[Hemifacial spasm: study using magnetic resonance angiography].

Nine patients with "idiopathic" hemifacial spasm were evaluated with cranial magnetic resonance imaging and angiography. Alterations of the posterior fossa vasculature, possibly related to the facial nerve irritation, were found in 8 patients (88%). Magnetic resonance angiography is a noninvasive procedure and appears to be a sensitive method to evaluate the hemifacial spasm etiology.

Adult↗