PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L C Alvaro

Publications and source records attributed to L C Alvaro.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

[Importance of the clinical-radiological complementarity in superficial cerebral siderosis].

We report two cases of superficial siderosis of central nervous system. In one case it was idiopathic and in the other secondary to an unidentified subarachnoid hemorrhage. The symptoms that characterized the clinical picture of both were gait disturbance and hypoacusis. The MRI study showed a superficial rim of hypointensity that covered the cerebellum and brainstem, and extended along the cranial nerves and the brain surface. The findings were clearer in the T2 spin echo series. Due to the high sensitivity for hemosiderin deposits, MRI made it possible to make the final diagnosis of this rare disease.

Aged↗
PubMed2002

[Spinal cord dural arteriovenous fistulae: analysis of a series with surgical curative treatment].

BACKGROUND: Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulae (SDAVF) are elusive to an early diagnosis. Otherwise, there is no agreement regarding the best treatment. AIM: To review our series of spinal arteriovenous malformations to illustrate the treatment and outcome of FAVDE. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Descriptive series of cases diagnosed and treated at our hospital within the last ten years. Ten suspicious MRI, followed by angiograms, got the next diagnosis: 3 intraspinal malformations, 2 cavernoms and 5 FAVDE, reported here. RESULTS: Four out of 5 FAVDE were men. Mean age was 61year (53-77), and mean interval to diagnosis 10.8 months (1-24). The clinical course consisted of progressive paraparesis, wich was acute in one case, with wheelchair confinement. Sensory involvement and sphinter dysfunction were also always present; severe pain affected 2 cases. MRI revealed the FAVDE at low thoracic or lumbar levels, with tortuous flow voids over the surface of the affected area. Angiograms disclosed the single feeding vessel between D8-L3. Laminectomy and interruption of the draining vein was the chosen treatment. Postoperative complications were not found. Improvement followed until full recovery, that occurred in 4 cases. One patient, previously embolized, was the only one with just modest recovery, although the angiogram proved that deferred surgery ran well. Mean follow-up was 3.8 years (1.5-6); neither clinical deterioration nor suspicious MR finding were found. Postoperative angiogram, performed in two cases, confirmed the fistulae as occluded. CONCLUSIONS: FAVDE mainly involves old males with progressive paraparesis. Suitable MR findings and characteristic angiograms allow the diagnosis. Novel patients are subsidiary to selective and simple surgery, that is usually curative without recurrencies.

English Abstract↗
PubMed2002

[The turn of the screw: complex visual hallucinations in the Henry James' novel].

The turn of the screw is one of the most celebrated stories by Henry James. It is also a top writing within the so-called fantastic literature, whose narrative strength comes from the intermittent visions suffered by the main character. The vividness and dramatic content that represent the firstly unidentified human figures, that moreover recur as brief, stereotyped and fragmentary images, are constitutive of complex visual hallucinations. These characteristics, alongside acute premonitory symptoms such as emotional changes (fear, anxiety) or altered thinking (forced, "dejà vu", "jamais vu"), and the final altered awareness or loss of consciousness, allow us to infer an epileptic nature of the ten episodes described. Postictal psychosis, that follows a lucid interval and may last up to the several weeks encompassed by the story, would account for the paranoia featured, in the setting of a temporal lobe epilepsy. The accurate descriptions prompted us to search for autobiographical, scientific or literary influences: The alcoholism and visual hallucinations suffered by his father, the knowledge on hallucinations provided by his brother Williams on his paramount and former The Principles of Psychology, and an early devotion to Poe's writings, an epileptic himself with excellent descriptions of seizures in his writings, might have enabled the author to perform his story with such a hallmark of neurological details.

Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Non tumoural cerebral biopsies: an analysis of 50 cases].

OBJECTIVE: Cerebral biopsy is an invasive technique with limited, specific indications in view of the potential risk of complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We reviewed a series of 50 cases of biopsies via craniotomy done over a period of 10 years to investigate suspected non tumoural disorders. RESULTS: There was a predominance of space occupying lesions and treatable infections (36%) and of non diagnostic biopsies (40%). There was poor correlation between the initial clinical diagnosis and the histological findings (50 71%). There were no complications. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the indications should be better defined and, in view of the satisfactory tolerance of this procedure, the study group should be increased by using other less invasive procedures (stereotaxia).

Biopsy↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Dementia with frontal lobe atrophy: clinical study from 18 patients with cognitive impairment and frontal lobe involvement detected by structural and functional neuroimaging].

OBJECTIVE: To characterize clinically patients with cognitive impairment and frontal lobe degeneration at neuroimaging. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed of dementia or mild neurocognitive impairment by DSM IV criteria and neuropsychological tests with frontal lobe atrophy and hipoperfusion detected by computed tomography and single photon emission computed tomography. RESULTS: 18 patients, 5:1 on behalf of women; mean age at onset, 74 years; hereditary for dementia, 38%; mean duration of illness at first testing, 2 years; the most common initial symptoms, memory loss. At initial examination, psychotic or behavioral impairment was found in 61% and parkinsonism in 38%, the commonest cognitive troubles at this moment was the executive function, language and anterograde memory dysfunctions at the same rate. Frontal lobe atrophy and hypoperfusion was found in 100%, temporal in 88% and parietal in 38%. Electroencephalogram was pathological in 33%. The course of the disease was progressive but with fluctuation in 27%. Frontotemporal dementia clinical criteria in 13 patients, 4 of them clinical criteria of dementia with Lewy bodies too, and clinical criteria of Alzheimer s disease in 5.

Aged↗