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M C Caballero

Publications and source records attributed to M C Caballero.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Self-awareness after acquired brain injury--predictors and rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors contributing to deficit in self-awareness following acquired brain injury and to study change in self-awareness during a group support program. METHODS: Sixty-two patients (mean age: 35.4 +/- 15.3 years) attending our Service (295 +/- 525 days after injury) were included in the study (41 of them had sustained a head injury). Thirty-six patients were admitted to a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program including a group support program designed to improve self-awareness deficits. All patients were assessed with the Patient Competency Rating Scale as a measure of self-awareness and with a broad range of neuropsychological tests, checklists of psychopathological symptoms, and several functional scales. RESULTS: Thirty patients showed high levels of self-awareness while 32 showed impaired self-awareness. Patients with appropriate perception of their deficits showed less psychopathological symptoms, better neuropsychological function and higher functional independence than those with impaired SA (Student's t test, p < 0.05). Both groups improved, but with different patterns, after rehabilitation (MANOVA, p < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that cognitive status was predictive of level of self-awareness. CONCLUSION: The level of self-awareness after acquired brain injury is a useful prognostic index of the neuropsychological, psychopathological and functional status of the patient. We recommend the evaluation of this symptom after acquired brain injury due to its clinical relevance.

Activities of Daily Living↗

[Primary low-grade non-Hodgkin's B lymphoma mimicking meningioma].

Primary dural lymphomas are rare. Usually they present themselves as diffuse lesions and are infrequently well-delimited. We present a 44 year old male, who was admitted into our Centre after a generalised seizure. Neuroimage studies (CT scan, MRI and angiography) were performed, demonstrating a right hemispheric well-delimited extra-axial mass, being diagnosed initially as meningioma. The patient underwent surgery with radical scission of the mass and dural margins. Histopathological diagnosis was Non-Hodgkin B-Cell lymphoma (marginal B-Cell lymphoma), which nowadays is considered as MALT lymphoma (Mucosa Associated Lymphoid Tissue). Studies directed to establish tumour extension didn't demonstrate the existence of another lesions in the organism.

Adult↗

Activities of new quinoline derivatives against genital pathogens.

The in vitro activities of four quinoline carboxylic acids against 48 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, 10 of Chlamydia trachomatis, and 32 of Ureaplasma urealyticum were compared. Ciprofloxacin was the most active against N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis but had poor bactericidal activity against U. urealyticum, whereas ofloxacin showed the most bactericidal activity against U. urealyticum but was less active than ciprofloxacin against the two former pathogens. Norfloxacin and enoxacin were less active against all the studied pathogens.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Guaianolides and eudesmanolides from Centaurea ornata.

Four sesquiterpene lactones and three other compounds have been isolated from the EtOH-H2O-soluble fraction of a CHCl3 extract of Centaurea ornata. A new grosshemin derivative 3 is described, and the stereochemistry of natural 11-epi-dihydroreynosin [2] is revised.

Benzaldehydes↗

[New cytogenetic prognostic markers in breast cancer].

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify chromosomal imbalances in a series of invasive ductal carcinomas. In order to characterize the prognostic value of the chromosomal aberrations, we determined the association between genetic changes, overall survival, recurrences and some well-known prognostic and diagnostic parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We included in this study 70 ductal invasive carcinomas diagnosed at the Hospital of Navarra during 1991-1994. We used the Comparative Genomic Hybridization Technique (CGH) for the molecular cytogenetic analysis of formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded specimens. RESULTS: We obtained successful results in 57 out of 70 cases (81.4%). The most frequent recurring findings were DNA gains on 8q, 17q, 1q, 20q, 11q and 6q and losses on 16q, Xp, Xq, 13q, 11q and 8p. In the survival study, gains on 1q and 11q13 were more frequent in patients with recurrence (41.3% vs. 18.5% and 50% vs. 23.7%). Loss of 16q appears as a prognostic factor of good outcome because of its association with good pathological prognostic features: 100% of tumors with this aberration showed overexpression of Bcl-2, and 75% of them were node negative. Besides, 46.7% of the positive cases for the expression of estrogen receptors also showed this imbalance. CONCLUSIONS: The CGH is a useful technique for the study of paraffin embedded tumors. Our results confirm that the cytogenetic aberrations of tumors could be considered as prognostic factors contributing to a better knowledge of tumor outcome.

English Abstract↗

[Intelligence, memory and malingering: correlation between scales].

OBJECTIVES: To validate the test of memory malingering (TOMM), and to study the influence of intelligence and memory on its performance in brain injury patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 30 patients with traumatic head injury were included in the study. All patients were assessed with the Complutense verbal learning test, the Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler memory scale-revised, the Boston naming test, two fluency tests (FAS, and animals), the Wechsler adult intelligence test-III, and with the TOMM. Cognitive results below 1 standard deviation (SD) from normative data were considered 'abnormal'. A parametric correlation between TOMM scores and cognitive tests was used to detect whether memory and intelligence were affecting TOMM performance. Statistical significance was set up at p<0.05. RESULTS: Between 46.1% (Boston) and 81.4% (WAIS-III performance IQ) of the sample presented cognitive deficits. Up to 83.3% of the patients scored above the cutoff point suggestive of malingering in the TOMM (45/50). Significance correlations were found between TOMM scores and memory or intelligence indexes. DISCUSSION: The TOMM is a useful tool to detect malingering in head injured patients. Effects of low intelligence coefficients, as well as memory deficits should be considered in clinical practice when evaluating patients with TOMM scores suggestive of malingering.

Adolescent↗

[Anoxic encephalopathy. Clinical description, prognosis and neuroimaging].

OBJECTIVES: To describe the clinical profile (neuropsychological, psychopathological, functional and neuroimaging), as well as the evolution of patients with anoxic encephalopathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nine patients with anoxic encephalopathy attending our Service were included in the study. All patients were assessed with a broad range of neuropsychological tests, checklists of psychopathological symptoms, and several functional scales. A CT/MRI or a positron emission tomography (PET) were performed in five patients. Five patients were admitted to a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program. RESULTS: All patients showed problems in orientation, executive functions, verbal learning an immediate and long-term verbal memory, in association with diffuse cognitive changes in other functions. Psychopathologically, all patients showed apathy-indifference, and eight subjects showed anosognosia. All subjects have an important dependence in daily activities. CT/MRI were normal or showed subcortical changes whereas the PET showed a predominantly cortical hypometabolism with specific patterns. There were no significant improvements after rehabilitation in treated patients. CONCLUSION: In the absence of a unique clinical profile, our patients with anoxic encephalopathy showed similarities in their symptoms (diffuse cognitive deficits with predominance of amnesic and executive impairments; presence of apathy and anosognosia; complete functional dependence; and poor response to the rehabilitation). Functional neuroimaging could be a useful tool for a better understanding of these encephalopathies.

Adolescent↗

[Intelligence and prognosis in severe traumatic brain injury: a neuropsychological study with the Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-III)].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of the Wechsler adult intelligence scale III (WAIS-III) as a measure of intelligence after severe brain injury, and to elucidate prognostic factors associated with intelligence coefficients (IQs). METHODS: Forty-six patients (age: 27.4 +/- 12.8 years) attending our service after a severe head injury were included in our study (chronicity: 315.3 +/- 330 days after injury). All patients were assessed with the WAIS-III. WAIS-III IQs were correlated (Pearson and Spearman) with clinical and demographic data. A significance level of p < 0.05 was used in all comparisons. IQs between 1 and 2 standard deviation (SD) below normative data were considered "mild abnormal" while indexes below 2 SD were considered "abnormal". RESULTS: Only eleven patients (25 %) showed normal total IQ with predominance of manipulative (77.7 %) compared to verbal (64.5 %) impairment. Thirty-eight patients (95 %) had difficulties in speed processing, thirty-six (85.6 %) had problems with working-memory, twenty-five (62.5 %) showed impairments in perceptual organization, and twenty-six (62 %) had verbal comprehension deficits. WAIS-III IQs showed significant correlations with length of coma and posttraumatic amnesia duration (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The WAIS-III is a valid and sensible tool to detect cognitive deficits associated with brain injury. Almost all patients with severe brain injury show abnormal IQs with a slow processing speed as predominant symptom. Length of coma and posttraumatic amnesia seems to be the most relevant parameter related to intelligence in severe brain-injured patients.

Adolescent↗