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Biomedical subjects

R Mutani

Publications and source records attributed to R Mutani.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Epileptic laughter: electroclinical and cinefilm report of a case.

A woman, aged 30, experienced attacks of pathological laughter which began during the first months of life; they meet the qualifying criteria of epileptic laughter. Several attacks were recorded by polygraphy and cinefilm. The attack begins with a feeling of unreality associated with a forced, involuntary smile progressing to full laughter. The patient tried to mask the laughter which was not accompanied by euphoria but was followed by loss of consciousness and automatisms. Only during the latter phase of the previously normal EEG did an ictal discharge appear over the right hemisphere. On the basis of the electroclinical pattern and of a review of the literature, the seizure is tentatively explained in terms of a progressive ictal involvement of temporodiencephalic structures.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Myotonia, potassium and taurine. A preliminary report.

The effect of taurine administration upon potassium-induced muscular hyperexcitability was studied in patients affected with dystrophic myotonia and in normal volunteers. Intra-arterial infusions of increasing concentrations of potassium chloride were given and venous potassium levels simultaneously monitored. Taurine prevented or remarkably reduced the electric signs of muscular hyperexcitability. Potassium chloride and taurine effects upon muscular excitability are discussed in terms of changes of membrane conductance, particularly for potassium ions.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1979

Tears as the best practical indicator of the unbound fraction of an anticonvulsant drug.

Phenobarbital and carbamazepine concentrations were determined by the EMIT technique in tears, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and plasma of patients with epilepsy. Closer correlation was shown between tear/plasma and tear/CSF ratios than between saliva/plasma and saliva/CSF ratios for the two agents. The phenobarbital CSF/serum ratio was in good agreement with data in the literature, and the higher ratio found for carbamazepine may be caused by an EMIT assay cross-reaction for the free fraction of carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide. In our hands, tears seem to represent the best practical indicator of the unbound fraction of an anticonvulsant drug, and the noninvasiveness of the method makes it specifically useful in pediatric neurology.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid tryptophan in multiple sclerosis and degenerative diseases.

Tryptophan and competing neutral amino acid levels were found to be diminished in the plasma of patients with multiple sclerosis and degenerative diseases, the greatest decrease being of tryptophan. Cerebrospinal fluid tryptophan was decreased in multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease, while leucine and valine were increased. These changes might lead to decreased synthesis of brain serotonin and brain proteins. The ratio between neutral amino acids and tryptophan might be used as an ancillary test in the screening of degenerative diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Post-convulsive spinal epidural haematoma in ankylosing spondylitis.

A case of post-convulsive spinal spidural haematoma in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis is presented. As acute tetraplegia developed, surgery was performed with finding of blood clots in the extradural space from C6 to D8. Lethal evolution due to late referral to medical care stresses the need for prompt decompression of the injured spine.

Hematoma, Epidural, Cranial↗
PubMed1978

Benign intracranial hypertension after minocycline therapy.

A case is reported of a young girl who developed benign intracranial hypertension, with severe bilateral papiledema and a left sixth cranial nerve palsy, after minocylcine therapy. This drug is a semisynthetic tetracycline which has proven to pass into the CSF more effectively and to have a greater lipoid solubility than the other antibiotics of the same group.

Abducens Nerve↗
PubMed1976

[Neuropsychiatric findings in a case of paramyoclonus multiplex].

In a subject affected with multiple paramyoclonus, showing asyncronous, bilateral, intermittent, spontaneous myoclonic jerks, a neuro-psychiatric investigation was performed. Several day-time poligraphic recordings were normal, while the night-time ones showed the lack of myoclonic jerks throughout the sleep. Metrazol activation pointed out a probable hyperexcitability of brain stem reticular formation. The psychiatric investigation, performed with a psychodynamic approach let realize the existence of a distortion of neuro-psychological functions due to an impaired elaboration of emotional information and psycho-structuring engrams. The Authors conclude for a posible convergence of biological and psychological factors causing the clinical symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Antagonism between focal epilepsy and taurine administered by cortical perfusion].

The therapeutic action of taurine cortical perfusion was tested in cats affected with Premarin and cobalt cortical epileptogenic foci. In all animals taurine provoked the disappearance of EEG epileptic abnormalities. In the case of Premarin focus the effect appeared more quickly than in the cobalt one. This different time-course, according to previous reports on the antiepileptic action of the parenteral administration of the amino acid, suggests the hypothesis of a taurine direct inhibitory action against Premarin focus and, on the contrary, a mediated action towards the cobalt's. The latter might be related to the metabolic production of some taurine derivative.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Optokynetic and ocular dysmetria tests in the diagnosis of atypical internuclear ophthalmoplegia (author's transl)].

In a patient with atypical bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia the optokynetic test and the ocular dysmetria test detected an infraclinical bilateral lag of adduction. The optokinetic test showed amplitude asymmetry of nystagmus, which was larger in both eyes when the fast phase was in abduction. The ocular dysmetria test showed in both eyes that saccades were slower in adducting than abducting saccades: the latters overshooted and showed transient nystagmus. Since bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia is often indicative of multiple sclerosis, these tests are particularly helpful in those patients who otherwise would require more complex diagnostic investigations.

Adult↗