Biomedical subjects

S A Bwala

Publications and source records attributed to S A Bwala.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1990

Intractable epilepsy.

A 26-year-old female had her first partial seizure at the age of five years. Further seizures occurred and later became generalised in nature. Control of the seizures became difficult despite the use of nine different anticonvulsants over a period of 20 years. She was not suitable for neurosurgical intervention because of the diffuse nature of her seizures. Cerebellar stimulation had only a marginal effect on seizure frequency. With time she became mentally retarded and was unable to benefit from formal education. Her illness demonstrates many of the long-term clinical features and management problems of intractable epilepsy.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Tic douloureux--a patient's diary.

Tic douloureux is a chronic disease characterised by paroxysmal facial pain. This seven-year account of a patient's symptoms and management is discussed with reference to the medical and surgical treatments now available.

Aged↗

PubMed1989

Stroke in a subsaharan Nigerian hospital--a retrospective study.

The case records of 53 consecutive Nigerian inpatients with stroke in the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age at presentation was 55 years and the male to female ratio was 2.5:1. The mean duration of symptoms before presentation was 11.1 weeks and the average duration of stay in hospital was 3 weeks. Thirty-three (63%) of the lesions were infarctive and 19 (37%) were haemorrhagic. Only 3 (6%) patients gave a history of prior transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs). Forty-two (79%) patients were hypertensive at presentation out of which 27 (64%) had the hypertension diagnosed for the first time. Four (8%) patients were non-insulin dependent diabetics. There were 11 hospital deaths (21%). Thus hypertension, more than half undiagnosed at admission, was the most common risk factor for stroke in the hospital population studied.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Transient ischaemic attacks: a retrospective study of 43 cases.

Forty-three Caucasians with transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs), all age- and sex-match controlled, were retrospectively studied. There was no difference in sex distribution. The peak age for TIAs was 55-64. The haematocrit and cholesterol levels of men were significantly elevated (0.01 greater than P greater than 0.001 for haematocrit, and 0.01 greater than P greater than 0.001 for cholesterol). Six patients were controlled hypertensives but in general there was no significant difference in the blood pressures of patients and controls. The risk factors for TIAs and strokes are discussed.

Adult↗