PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Ceccaldi

Publications and source records attributed to M Ceccaldi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Lyme disease presenting as isolated acute urinary retention caused by transverse myelitis: an electrophysiological and urodynamical study.

Several neurological manifestations of Lyme disease, both central and peripheral, have been described. Reported here is a case of acute transverse myelitis related to a Lyme neuroborreliosis that presented with isolated acute urinary retention and no lower-extremity impairment. This case, documented by urodynamic and electrophysiological investigations, partially resolved after 6 weeks of intravenous ceftriaxone, affording the removal of the indwelling catheter. Alpha blocker therapy was needed for 3 months, until the complete normalisation of urodynamic and electrophysiological records. This case study indicates that whenever urinary retention is encountered associated with acute transverse myelitis or alone, the patient should be investigated for Lyme disease.

Ceftriaxone↗
PubMed1995

A pure reversible amnesic syndrome following tuberculous meningoencephalitis.

The authors report the case of a 33-year-old right-handed man who developed a pure classical amnesic syndrome during the course of a probable tuberculous meningitis. This amnesic syndrome occurred 3 months after the onset of the illness, after the patient had stopped the treatment and it regressed completely after the antituberculous treatment had been recommenced. The neuroradiological investigations suggested that both the mamillary bodies and the medial temporal lobe regions were involved in this amnesic syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

[Progressive severity of left unilateral apraxia in 2 cases of Alzheimer disease].

Two patients presented with progressive left unilateral motor apraxia and progressive visuo-spatial difficulties, including constructional apraxia, dressing apraxia, spatial dysgraphia and dyslexia, spatial acalculia and neglect of the left side, without significant changes in the other cognitive functions. In both patients, radiological tests demonstrated cortical atrophy, more marked in the retrorolandic areas. A diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease was made in the first patient by cortical biopsy and in the second patient by post-mortem examination. The second patient died from an intercurrent neoplastic condition early in the course. Post-mortem examination of her brain showed the atrophy to be predominantly in the superior parietal gyri. In these areas, in addition to neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, these was also severe gliosis and superficial spongiosis. These two cases were clinically different from cortico-basal degeneration, where the motor difficulties are associated with occulo-motor problems, extrapyramidal signs and involuntary movements of the "alien hand" type. These data confirm the presence of focal forms of Alzheimer's disease. The motor apraxia seen in our patients resembles the kinesthesic apraxia described by Luria.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1995

[Prodromic fit of laughter and prerolandic tumor].

We report a case of "fou rire prodromique" heralding a right hemispheric glioblastoma involving the prerolandic cortex. The clinicoanatomical correlations of this phenomenon are discussed.

Brain Neoplasms↗
PubMed1995

[Fahr's disease and mitochondrial myopathy].

The case of a 41 years old man presenting with mitochondrial myopathy associated with calcification of the basal ganglia (Fahr's disease) neurosensorial and endocrine-deficits is reported. These different symptoms could share a common physiopathological process.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Temporary forced laughter after unilateral strokes.

Forced laughter generally occurs in bilateral or diffuse lesions of the brain and is generally associated with pathologic crying. We report the cases of 3 patients in whom temporary forced laughter occurred after unilateral supratentorial infarction demonstrated by CT scan or MRI. In all cases, the lesion was exclusively subcortical and involved the striatocapsular region. For all patients the laughter occurred during the recovery phase of motor deficit and was 'pure' without associated weeping or other clinical features of pseudobulbar palsy. In all cases, the laughter attacks had become much less frequent or had totally disappeared 1 or 2 months after the stroke. According to a 'motor' hypothesis, a unilateral striatocapsular lesion may lead to temporary deregulation of the expression mechanisms.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[Post-traumatic interhemispheric disconnection syndrome].

A left-handed man presented with a partial hemispheric disconnection syndrome of traumatic origin composed by a left hand unilateral agraphia, a left hand tactile anomia, a left visual field anomia, a left visual field alexia and a partial left ear extinction for verbal material. MRI of the brain showed lesion involving the trunk of the corpus callosum.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Progressive encephalopathy in antiphospholipid antibody syndrome].

The most frequent neurological complications of antiphospholipid antibodies syndrome (APS) are cerebral infarctions. In cases with recurrent strokes this syndrome may be associated with multi infarct dementia. We report the case of a 40-year old man presenting as "primary" APS with multiple cerebral infarctions. This patient had insidiously and progressively developed a cognitive impairment predominant in memory. The progressive encephalopathy associated with APS is very different from multi infarct dementia and could be caused either by a vascular mechanism (vascular occlusion with fibrin thrombi or disseminated vasculitis) or by an immunological mechanism.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Paroxysmal pruritus and multiple sclerosis.

We report a patient who presented with paroxysmal pruritus in association with multiple sclerosis. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spinal cord showed a lesion at a level corresponding to the dermatomal location of the pruritus.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1993

[Aging and cerebral representation of language].

Some characteristics of acquired aphasias during adulthood--frequency, severity, type of aphasia--would change with aging. In particular, Wernicke's aphasia patients are repeatedly reported to be older than Broca's. Several hypotheses are proposed to account for these age-related changes. One of the explanations puts forward hypothetical changes in the neural substrate with aging. A second hypothesis refers to the involvement of cognitive and behavioral changes occurring in elderly. A third one claims that changes in functional distribution of language in brain (between hemispheres and within left hemisphere) may occur with aging.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Perception of optical flow in cortical blindness: a case report.

Motion perception was studied in a subject with bilateral lesion of the visual cortex, involving severe damage to cortical areas V1 and V4, but with no apparent damage to visual associative areas situated in occipito-parietal and lateral occipito-temporal (presumably V5) zones. He was able to perceive optical flow motions simulating motion in depth in "blind" parts of his visual field, provided that the stimulus-onset was temporally dissociated from its motion. Moreover, he was able to discriminate between different velocities and directions of motion. The results suggest that perimetrically "blind" parts of the visual field in this patient have true capacities to process visual motion. They are discussed in reference to the subject's ability to move freely in his environment and in reference to the role of extrastriate visual pathways in visual motion processing.

Acceleration↗
PubMed1992

[Ambulatory autonomy and visual motion perception in a case of almost total cortical blindness].

A 37-year-old man experienced cortical blindness following a bilateral stroke in the territory of the posterior cerebral arteries. Four years later, the measurement of visual field defects (Goldmann perimeter) showed persistence of bilateral blindness with a 2-degree preservation of macular vision and a perifoveal sparing between 10 to 30 degrees of eccentricity in the left inferior quadrant. Despite this visual impairment, the subject was able to perform visually-guided locomotion. Moreover he consciously perceived visual motion in the blind parts of his visual field. CT and MRI showed a lesion involving most of the striated cortex. The visual cortex located in the internal occipito-parital regions was relatively spared. The contribution of this structure to extra-striated vision of motion is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[The frontiers of aphasia].

Brain lesions located outside the language area may be associated with non-aphasic disorders of language. The difficulties encountered by these patients concern one or several of the following levels: incitement to communicate, initiation and maintenance of verbal activity, internal organization and adequation of the discourse to the context, mastery of the lexico-semantic code. In every case, the elementary aspects of language are untouched, but verbal communication is severely perturbed.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1990

[Callosal disconnection syndrome caused by left hemisphere infarction].

A 49-year old right-handed taxi-driver experienced right upper limb weakness and global aphasia following internal carotid artery occlusion. Five months later, aphasia and hemiparesis had resolved but he complained of difficulties in his daily activities, termed "inner conflict". Specific testings disclosed typical features of a callosal syndrome: left unilateral ideomotor apraxia, left hand agraphia, left tactile dysnomia, right hand constructional difficulties, and left ear extinction on dichotic listening. Naming and recognition of tachistoscopically presented images or words was similar to that of classical split-brain studies. MRI showed a left-hemisphere periventricular increased signal involving the callosal outflow of the whole posterior half of the corpus callosum and partially destroying the splenium. Fibers from the anterior half of the body and the genu were spared. According to clinical and MRI findings in this case and other documented cases of callosal syndrome, localization of callosal transfer of various hemisphere functions is discussed. The relevance of callosal symptoms to the diagnosis of watershed infarcts is emphasized.

Agraphia↗
PubMed1989

[Subcortical dementia syndrome: semiology and physiopathology].

Among the dementia syndromes--that is, disorders of memory associated with a global alteration of cognitive functions sufficient to affect the subject's normal social behaviour--the current trend is to individualize a particular syndrome due to a primary dysfunction of the subcortical structures. The main characteristics of this syndrome are a slowing down of cognitive processes (bradyphrenia), a preferential disturbance of the fundamental processes (memory, motivation, attention, etc.) and a relative preservation of specific functions (speech, praxis, gnosis). Such a syndrome has been described not only in some cases of degeneration of the basal ganglia, but also in other brain diseases, notably vascular diseases, and in severe depressive states. Various recent clinical or fundamental studies have shed some light on the neuronal and neurochemical substrate of the syndrome, thus providing proof of the reality of the subcortical dementia concept which contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between brain and mental functions.

Aged↗