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Biomedical subjects

R C Peatfield

Publications and source records attributed to R C Peatfield.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Myopathy in acquired partial lipodystrophy.

We describe two women with acquired partial lipodystrophy, one with significant myopathic symptoms and signs. Muscle biopsy of deltoid and quadriceps was performed in each case. The light microscopy findings were of type 1 and type 2 fibre hypertrophy, with an increase in intracytoplasmic fat in both cases. Electron microscopy showed normal fibres, with accumulations of electron-lucent fat droplets between the myofibrils. The cause of the lipodystrophies is uncertain, but myopathy may be a feature, and muscle biopsy studies may help in further defining the syndrome.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1995

Relationships between food, wine, and beer-precipitated migrainous headaches.

Five hundred seventy-seven consecutive patients attending the Princess Margaret Migraine Clinic from 1989 to 1991 have been questioned about dietary precipitants of their headaches. Four hundred twenty-nine patients had migraine, of which 16.5% reported that headaches could be precipitated by cheese or chocolate, and nearly always both. Of the migraine patients, 18.4% reported sensitivity to all alcoholic drinks, while another 11.8% were sensitive to red wine but not to white wine; 28% of the migrainous patients reported that beer would precipitate headaches. There was a definite statistical association between sensitivity to cheese/chocolate and to red wine (P < 0.001) and also to beer (P < 0.001), but none between diet sensitivity and sensitivity to alcoholic drinks in general. None of 40 patients with tension headache (diagnosed by International Headache Society criteria) reported sensitivity to foods, and only one was sensitive to alcoholic drinks. The prevalence of sensitivity among 46 patients with some migrainous features was intermediate between the migraine and tension headache categories. It is concluded that cheese/chocolate and red wine sensitivity, in particular, have closely related mechanisms, in some way related more to migraine than to more chronic tension-type headache, while quite separate mechanisms play a major role in sensitivity to alcoholic drinks in general.

Beer↗
PubMed1991

Some clinical comparisons between common and classical migraine: a questionnaire-based study.

In a questionnaire-based study we compared the clinical features of migraine with aura (classical migraine) and migraine without aura (common migraine) in 354 and 397 patients, respectively, attending The Princess Margaret Migraine Clinic. Other than those related to the aura, no significant differences were seen in any clinical features of the attack (e.g. frequency or duration of attacks, time of day at onset, location of headache at onset, severity of headache, or nausea and vomiting). Common migraine attacks were significantly more likely to occur at weekends (p = 0.002). Dietary triggers tended to be more troublesome in classical migraineurs while pregnancy and the menstrual cycle affected both migraine types equally. Classical migraine patients were twice as likely to have a history of hypertension (p less than 0.05) and showed a slightly but not significantly greater tendency to depression. Family histories of migraine were similar in each migraine type. We conclude that classical and common migraine are fundamentally similar in their clinical characteristics and that the occurrence of focal neurological symptoms during a migraine attack has little influence on the rest of the attack.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Elevation of plasma vasopressin in spontaneous migraine.

Vasopressin is a vasoactive hormone secreted from the posterior pituitary. At low concentration its role is in regulating renal water excretion, but at higher concentrations it has a number of extrarenal actions, including effects on blood flow. To investigate the role of vasopressin in spontaneous migraine, paired samples were collected from 14 subjects (a) during an acute attack of spontaneous migraine, and (b) when symptom-free for at least seven days. During an attack, vasopressin was consistently raised (median (range) 3.5 (1.2-9.6) pg/ml v 0.5 (0.5-1.1) pg/ml, p less than 0.001). The highest vasopressin concentration occurred in the only patient who vomited. The results suggest vasopressin rises during an attack of spontaneous migraine, and this may, in part, be related to emesis. In the majority, vasopressin levels only rose sufficiently to have some renal antidiuretic effect, although in some these levels could have been sufficient to cause alteration in peripheral blood flow. Release of vasopressin may be responsible for the facial pallor and antidiuresis observed in migraine.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Thunderclap headache: is it migraine?

In a prospective study, 14 out of 49 patients presenting to a Regional Neurosurgical Unit with sudden headache suggestive of subarachnoid haemorrhage had normal CSF and a normal CT scan: it did not prove possible, on clinical grounds alone, to distinguish these from those that had bled. We have now followed all these patients for a minimum of 18 months. Only one has had no further headache, 4 have had musculoskeletal pain, 5 psychogenic pain, and 4 migraine type symptoms. None went on to have an unequivocal subarachnoid haemorrhage, and we conclude that angiography cannot be justified in patients with this type of "thunderclap headache".

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Beware the patient with a headache in the accident and emergency department.

We have reviewed the 130 patients presenting to an accident and emergency (A & E) department with a headache, followed up for 2 years. These are infrequent attenders but we have found that there is a high incidence of serious neurological pathology (16%) in this group of patients. We suggest that patients presenting to the A & E department with headache should be thoroughly examined and investigated and in the absence of a definite benign diagnosis should at least be admitted for a period of observation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Diagnosis and management of headache.

Headache is one of the commonest neurological symptoms. One must first identify patients with structural disease requiring specific therapy, though this is unusual, especially in outpatient practice. While migraine, tension headache, and cluster headache are not life-threatening, they are major causes of morbidity, and much can be done to alleviate them.

Cerebral Angiography↗
PubMed1988

Plasma vasopressin levels in induced migraine attacks.

Vasopressin (aVP) at low concentrations functions as an antidiuretic hormone and has vasoconstrictive effects. To investigate the possible role of aVP in the pathogenesis of migraine, six patients with a history of induced migraine were given 100 g chocolate, and blood samples for plasma aVP were taken before ingestion and every hour for 4 h. In one patient who presented with severe headache and nausea the base-line plasma aVP concentration was 15.2 pg/ml; it fell to 3.2 pg/ml at 2 h before rising to 10 pg/ml at 3 h and 4 h as the symptoms worsened. In the five patients with moderate or no headache plasma aVP concentrations remained in the normal range (less than 3 pg/ml) throughout. The results suggest that aVP does not have a role in the aetiology of migraine. The possibility exists that during severe attacks of nausea there is release of aVP, which may be responsible for the facial pallor, antidiuresis, and coagulation abnormalities occasionally observed in migraine.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Do migrainous headaches become more consistently lateralized?

Analysis of information collected from 468 patients with common or classical migraine does not suggest that those with a longer history are more likely to have headaches fixed to a single side of the head. This finding does not support the notion that successive unilateral headache attacks on one side cause damage that predisposes the patient to further attacks on the same side.

Chronic Disease↗
PubMed1987

Basal ganglia damage and subcortical dementia after possible insidious Coxsackie virus encephalitis.

Two patients with a chronic non-progressive illness beginning with undue sleepiness and personality change are described. Both have an atypical movement disorder, clearly distinct from Parkinson's disease. Each has an impairment of memory and learning with relative preservation of arithmetical, language and visuospatial tasks, suggesting a subcortical dementia. Both have atrophy of deep structures on their CT scans, and elevated antibodies to one of the Coxsackie viruses. It is suggested that insidious virus encephalitis (perhaps cases that would previously have been described as encephalitis lethargica) still occurs, and is among the causes of subcortical dementia.

Adult↗