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Biomedical subjects

M De Marinis

Publications and source records attributed to M De Marinis.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Observations on EEG patterns in neurally-mediated syncope: an inspective and quantitative study.

We performed an observational EEG study in 43 patients with neurally-mediated syncope in basal condition and during hyperventilation (HV), and compared it with 32 healthy controls. On blind analysis at rest, EEG was classified as normal in 47% of patients (vs. 94% of controls, P < 0.001). More abundant and pronounced delta-theta activities and alpha slowing were found in patients than in control subjects on both visual inspection and quantitative spectral analysis. During prolonged HV, the EEG remained normal in 21% of patients only. Slow activities became more evident in patients than in control subjects, and intermittent rhythmic delta activity appeared in 40% of syncopal patients. These "pseudoparoxysmal" EEG changes differed from the common slowings induced by HV in adult subjects and were not observed in our control subjects. Moreover, these distinctive EEG changes, a common finding in syncopal patients, could not be confused with epileptiform activity of any kind. Further studies will clarify the pathophysiology of these EEG modifications.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Video color perimetry: impairment in glaucoma suspects.

PURPOSE: To detect mild visual field impairment in asymptomatic glaucoma suspect patients. METHODS: Color perception within the visual field was tested with customized color video perimetry. The key features of the system were stimuli color desaturation, low-level luminance and equiluminant gray background. Twenty patients with asymptomatic glaucoma were tested and compared with a group of age-matched control subjects. RESULTS: Automated perimetry test findings differed significantly in the two groups, particularly for short-wavelength sensitivity (blue). The severity of color impairment correlated directly with intraocular pressure. CONCLUSION: Desaturated low-luminance video perimetry will reliably detect and quantify asymptomatic visual field defects. A previous work on multiple sclerosis has detected a mild long-wavelength (red) impairment in asymptomatic patients after an episode of optic neuritis, even in clinically unaffected fellow eyes. Our findings in glaucoma suspect patients indicate that a mild blue impairment could be the initial sign of this disease.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Sympathetic skin response and cardiovascular autonomic function tests in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy with autonomic failure.

The relationship between sympathetic skin response (SSR) and cardiovascular autonomic function tests (CVTs) was investigated in 15 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), 15 patients with clinical evidence of multiple system atrophy (MSA) with autonomic failure, and in 15 healthy control subjects. SSR was elicited by electrical stimulation of the right and left median nerves and simultaneously recorded on the palms of both hands. CVTs included the following sympathetic and parasympathetic tests: orthostatism, head-up tilt, cold pressor test, deep breathing, Valsalva maneuver, and hyperventilation. The SSR was normal in all patients with PD and control subjects but was abnormal or absent in all patients with MSA. For patients with MSA, SSR latency was significantly longer and amplitude was significantly smaller than that of patients with PD and control subjects. For patients with PD, SSR did not differ from that of control subjects. In these patients, SSR latency was significantly longer and SSR amplitude was smaller when the side with more marked motor symptoms was stimulated, both ipsilaterally and contralaterally to the side of stimulation. A statistically significant difference in SSR latencies and amplitudes was found between patients with PD and control subjects only when motor asymmetries were considered. CVTs showed severe sympathetic and parasympathetic hypofunction in patients with MSA, but not in patients with PD or control subjects. No correlation was found between SSR and CVTs that assess sympathetic function in patients and control subjects. SSR is indicated as an additional test for the evaluation of sympathetic degeneration in patients with MSA.

Aged↗
PubMed1999

Migraine and ocular pain in "glaucoma suspect".

A relationship between glaucoma and migraine has been hypothesized by some authors, but not confirmed by others. We studied the prevalence and features of migraine and ocular pain in 460 "glaucoma suspect" patients (with ocular hypertension, but without optic disc and visual field abnormalities) and 460 controls. A higher prevalence of migraine was found in patients (13%), particularly in women (17%), than in controls (7%). At the time of the interview, migraine was still active in 68% of the patients and had decreased in the remaining 32% (prevalently those not being treated for ocular hypertension), whereas it had ceased in 52% of controls. Attacks of "ocular pain" of mild and moderate intensity were found to occur in 51% of the patients with both "glaucoma suspect" and migraine, in almost all who were not taking treatment for ocular hypertension. "Ocular pain" was time-related to the history of glaucoma. Changes in intraocular pressure may play a role in the interaction between "glaucoma suspect", migraine, and ocular pain.

Female↗
PubMed1998

Oculosympathetic alterations in migraine patients.

Oculosympathetic function was studied in 20 headache-free migraine patients and in 20 controls. Pupillary investigation was performed under basal conditions, and after instillation of tyramine (2%) and phenylephrine (1%) eyedrops. Each test was performed twice shortly after a spontaneous attack and then repeated after 7 and 15 days. In the patients, the normal mydriatic response induced by tyramine was significantly (p<0.001) reduced and phenylephrine instillation caused a significant (p<0.01) pupillary dilatation in both the assessments performed shortly after the attack. These abnormal responses were bilateral in all patients and slightly anisocoric in some. They were significantly (p<0.001) more pronounced in the patients who had pain and pronounced vascular features. The reduced oculosympathetic response to tyramine, as well as the hypersensitivity to phenylephrine, was less evident 7 days after the attack and absent after 15 days. A transient and bilateral post-ganglionic oculosympathetic hypofunction, with adrenoceptor hypersensitivity, was found to be temporally related to the migraine attack, regardless of the side or predominant side of pain.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Recurrent neck pain as a variant of migraine: description of four cases.

Four patients who had recurrent attacks of idiopathic unilateral neck pain and tenderness of the ipsilateral carotid artery are described. Two patients had never had headache. The other two had migraine without aura. All patients had dilatation of extracranial arteries during the attacks (telethermographic examination), oculosympathetic hypofunction (pupillary tests), and positive responses to vasoactive drugs which are commonly used for migraine treatment. Recurrent neck pain involving the carotid artery seems to be a variant form of migraine that may occur alone or in association with headache in patients with involvement of extracranial arteries.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[New antiepileptic drugs: a review and personal contribution].

In drug-resistant epilepsy the use of VGB, LTG, oxcarbazepine, FBM and GBP resulted in at least a 50% improvement in 20% to 60% of such patients treated and in 7% led to complete seizure control. In the long term, VGB may lose its efficacy and give rise to tolerance phenomena. Another frequent disadvantage of VGB is poor compliance owing to the large number of tablets needed to achieve the necessary dose (2-3 g). VGB may also induce a worsening of myoclonic epilepsies and seems ineffective in absences; whereas it can induce a good response in West's syndrome. LTG and FBM yielded a good response in idiopathic generalized epilepsies and were effective in refractory partial seizures, West's syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut's syndrome. After being suspended because of the risks of bone-marrow aplasia and liver toxicity, FBM trials began again in 1995, use of the drug being restrict to drug-resistant partial epilepsies and to Lennox-Gastaut's syndrome. Oxcarbazepine has an efficacy equal to that of CBZ, but had fewer side effects and very few interactions with other drugs. Although GBP has few side effects and acts as an anticonvulsant in subjects with resistant partial epilepsy, some reports suggest that it can lose its efficacy around the 18th or 19th month.

Anticonvulsants↗
PubMed1995

Sympathetic-parasympathetic activation during spontaneous attacks of cluster headache: evaluation by spectral analysis of heart-rate fluctuations.

Twenty-four hour ECG Holter and blood-pressure monitorings were performed in eight patients suffering from cluster headache. Spectral analysis of heart-rate fluctuation was used to assess the autonomic balance under basal conditions, after head-up tilt, and during a spontaneous attack. Normal autonomic balance was found at rest and during sympathetic activation obtained with head-up tilt in the interparoxysmal period. Before the onset of headache, an increase in the low-frequency (LF) component of the power spectrum was apparent in all patients. This sign of sympathetic activation was followed by an increase in the high-frequency (HF) component that developed about 2000 beats after the onset of headache and rapidly overcame the LF component until the end of pain. Significant differences were found when comparing the spectral parameters [total spectral values (TP), power of the LF and HF components and LF/HF ratio] obtained before, during and after headache. During the attack, blood pressure increased and heart rate decreased in all subjects. There appears to be a primary activation of both sympathetic and parasympathetic functions in cluster headache attacks. The sympathetic component seems to be involved mostly in the development of the attack, whereas the parasympathetic activation seems to occur, following the onset of the attack, independently of the pain.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Pupillary abnormalities due to sympathetic dysfunction in different forms of idiopathic headache.

Idiopathic vascular-type headache is frequently associated with pupillary alteration, which is often presumed to be due to malfunction of the sympathetic nervous system. In this review the anatomical and neurotransmitter basis of oculosympathetic function is briefly discussed along with some of the common pharmacological and physiological pupillary tests used in its assessment. The clinical and subclinical features of the pupil abnormalities are analysed in idiopathic headache, which includes migraine, tension headache, cluster headache, and chronic paroxysmal hemicrania. Possible mechanisms underlying these alterations are suggested. Among secondary headaches, carotid dissection and aneurysm have to be excluded when unilateral headache is associated with a persistent ipsilateral oculosympathetic deficit. From the literature, specific responses to pupillary tests apparently are present in idiopathic headache. Pupillary tests may differentiate between the subtypes of idiopathic headache. The investigation of pupillary dysfunction may provide information on the physiopathological basis of headache.

Headache↗
PubMed1993

Unilateral reduction of head pain and facial vasodilatation after gasserian ganglion lesion.

The features of histamine-induced headache and its associated vascular responses were studied in 52 patients with different surgical lesions of the gasserian ganglion and in 12 control subjects. Certain features of headache (eg, intensity, type, and duration) were similar in patients and control subjects. However, the pain was absent on the side of the trigeminal lesion in 26 (50%) of the patients. This unilateral absence of pain was not related to the hypoesthesia that was caused by the operation, and it was associated with a decrease in vascular responses (histamine-induced facial flushing and increase in temperature) on the side operated on. These abnormalities were more prevalent in patients who had undergone thermocoagulation and presented with more severe damage of the trigeminal ganglion than in those who were subjected to trigeminal compression or glycerolization. The trigemino-vascular system seems to control headache of a vascular type and associated craniofacial vasodilatation in human subjects.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

Evaluation of vesico-urethral and sweating function in disorders presenting with parkinsonism.

Investigation of vesico-urethral and sweating function was performed in twelve patients with classical idiopathic Parkinson's disease and ten patients with parkinsonism associated with features suggestive of more extensive involvement of the nervous system, as in the Shy-Drager syndrome. The urodynamic studies revealed detrusor hyperreflexia with reduction of maximal cystometric capacity in only one patient with Parkinson's disease (8%), but in nine patients with parkinsonism associated with other features (90%). Urethral sphincter electromyography did not indicate denervation in any patient of either group. Delayed or incomplete relaxation of the urethral sphincter during micturition was observed in seven patients with Parkinson's disease (58%) and in two patients of the other group (20%). Decreased sweating responses were found in both groups of patients when compared with control subjects. Hypohidrosis was more pronounced in parkinsonism associated with other features than in Parkinson's disease. Differences in sweating between the two sides of the body were observed in both groups of patients. Although there are differences in vesico-urethral and sweating function, they do not precisely differentiate between patients with classical Parkinson's disease and those with parkinsonism associated with features suggestive of more extensive involvement of the nervous system.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Headache associated with non-cephalic infections: classification and mechanisms.

A classification of headache associated with non-cephalic infections is proposed. The classification is supported by published case series and reports. The head pain can be explained by direct activation of pain producing mechanism by microorganisms or can be secondary to fever or to a combination of both.

Bacterial Infections↗