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Biomedical subjects

S Kenkel

Publications and source records attributed to S Kenkel.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Does visual restitution training change absolute homonymous visual field defects? A fundus controlled study.

AIM: To examine whether visual restitution training (VRT) is able to change absolute homonymous field defect, assessed with fundus controlled microperimetry, in patients with hemianopia. METHODS: 17 patients with stable homonymous visual field defects before and after a 6 month VRT period were investigated with a specialised microperimetric method using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO). Fixation was controlled by SLO fundus monitoring. The size of the field defect was quantified by calculating the ratio of the number of absolute defects and the number of test points; the training effect E was defined as the difference between these two ratios before and after training. A shift of the entire vertical visual field border by 1 degrees would result in an E value of 0.14. RESULTS: The mean training effect of all right eyes was E = 0.025 (SD 0.052) and all left eyes E = 0.008 (SD 0.034). In one eye, a slight non-homonymous improvement along the horizontal meridian occurred. CONCLUSIONS: In one patient, a slight improvement along the horizontal meridian was found in one eye. In none of the patients was an explicit homonymous change of the absolute field defect border observed after training.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Age-related disease pattern in infertile men: increasing incidence of infections in older patients.

In a cross-sectional retrospective study, the age-dependency of semen parameters of men with specific andrological diseases was investigated in 3,698 men (mean age 33 years; range 19-63 years) attending a tertiary referral clinic for couple infertility. In all, 1,853 patients suffered from idiopathic infertility (mean age 33.2 years; range 19-60 years), 388 from infections of the accessory glands (34.2; 20-61), 363 had a history of maldescended testes (32.0; 20-51) and 833 a varicocele (33.6; 20-63). In 172 patients, a varicocele and an infection (34.3; 24-54) and in 94 a varicocele and a history of maldecended testes (32.5; 21-53) were found. Semen analysis was performed according to WHO criteria. An age-related decrease in testicular volume was not observed in any group. Total sperm count decreased significantly with advancing age only in patients with an infection of the accessory glands. We found no evidence for age-dependent progressive deterioration of semen variables in the other groups. It may be concluded that the causes for the spermatogenetic defects in men with idiopathic infertility, a history of maldescended testes or varicocele are acquired before adolescence and do not progress during adulthood. In contrast, infections of the accessory glands may lead to decreased sperm counts by functional impairment or partial occlusion of the seminal ducts. Thus, if in the general population declining sperm counts are observed, genital tract infections may be suspected as a contributing factor.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Occupational risks for male fertility: an analysis of patients attending a tertiary referral centre.

The impact of environment and occupation on male fertility is still under debate. We investigated whether certain occupations may be over- or under-represented among men attending our infertility clinic in relation to the entire population of the area. Diagnoses and semen parameters of 2054 infertile men from the district of Münster were analysed retrospectively. The patients were categorized into 29 occupational groups. The relative size of each group was compared with that of the entire population in the district of Münster. Farmers were over-represented compared with the general population. Farmers and painters/varnishers showed a significantly higher proportion of reduced sperm counts [odds ratios (OR): 2.13 and 2.17, 95% confidence intervals: 1.18-3.88 and 1.02-4.65] and severely reduced sperm concentrations compared with the entire group of infertile men; in addition, significantly more farmers presented with a history of maldescended testes than other occupational groups (OR: 2.76 and 2.84; CI: 1.12-6.75 and 1.27-6.34). Metal workers/welders formed significantly higher proportions of patients with reduced sperm motility (OR: 5.99; CI: 1.38-26.00). The relatively poor semen parameters of the painters/varnishers could be caused by exposure to toxins. This may also apply to the farmers (fertilizers, herbicides); however, the elevated rate of maldescended testes suggests an effect of exposure during prenatal development or a genetic cause. The findings for metal workers/welders may be because of heat or toxins at the workplace. The study demonstrates that certain occupations are preferentially associated with male infertility.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Remote memory in patients with acute brain injuries.

Remote memory was investigated in an unselected sample of 26 patients with either unilateral tumours in the temporal lobes or traumatic brain injuries. Six patients underwent excisions within the left temporal lobe, and nine patients were operated on within the right temporal lobe. In both groups, patients with excisions including and sparing the hippocampal formation were studied. Their performance was compared to that of 11 patients with moderate to severe head trauma and to a normative sample of 214 healthy controls. Remote memory was assessed using a famous events test with items of extremely low salience that had been proven to be of low difficulty for those old enough at the time of the event's actuality. The results show severely disturbed retrograde memory functions in the left temporal tumour group. These patients achieved similar scores to patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Right hemispheric patients showed a pattern of results comparable to that of healthy controls. The strongest effects were in the free recall part of the test. In most of the patients, no graded memory loss was observable. No consistent association to recent memory function could be identified. Since most of the remote memory test items used denoted famous names which were cued by rich semantic information, the type of deficit seen may be best understood in terms of a specific dysfunction of the semantic stores containing information about famous proper names.

Adult↗